Colour:
2024 Merchant Cabernet is a deep, vibrant crimson.
Aroma:
The aroma is captivating, layered with violets, cassis, mulberries, tomato leaf, a whisper of nori, cooling menthol, earthy black olive, and refined, cedary-spiced oak.
Palate:
The palate is medium-bodied yet powerful, driven by concentrated varietal fruit wrapped in elegance. Dusty natural tannins are prominent, but fine, providing structure and impeccable backbone. Subtle, toasty oak brings further complexity, harmonising seamlessly with the generous fruit. It culminates in a long, poised, and persistent finish.
Recommended Drinking:
This is a classy, beautifully crafted Barossa Cabernet, with the balance and refinement to evolve gracefully for at least the next decade.
The grapes were picked in two lots on April 2nd and April 4th. Following destemming into open-top fermenters, the musts were fermented on skins for 7 days and 13 days, respectively, with hand pump-overs twice a day. After pressing off skins the Cabernet was filled to a mix of one quarter new and the balance used French oak hogsheads, where the wine underwent natural malolactic fermentation. The Cabernet matured in barrel for 16 months prior to bottling.
Certified Organic & Biodynamic | Vegan Friendly | Alc 13.5% | Contains 8.0 Standard Drinks | Contains Minimum Sulphites
Vintage 2024 was excellent. Winter and Spring were drier and slightly warmer than average leading to earlier budburst, flowering and veraison. Summer welcomed refreshing rainfall, average temperatures, with no extreme heat, ensuring the vines flourished with their very balanced crop load and apt canopy leading to steady ripening. Autumn began warm and finished mild, continuing the consistent ripening of grapes until harvest was finished in mid-Autumn. The yields are overall average, and the quality is superb.
Merchant Cabernet Sauvignon is sourced from a vineyard that was planted on the Kalleske property at the end of last century. The hand-pruned vines are low-yielding and grow in shallow, red brown soil over superb deep clay, providing ideal conditions for Cabernet Sauvignon.

