The Howard Park Leston Cabernet Sauvignon is a single region wine from Margaret River. Particular vineyard sites are selected for this single region wine and as with all Howard Park wines, the vines are given extraordinary attention in the vineyard. Canopy management is designed to maximise fruit exposure to the sunlight and yields are kept low to achieve concentration in the grapes. The grapes are harvested according to flavour with little regard for analytical data. At completion of fermentation the Cabernet Sauvignon is pressed off into French oak barriques of which about 60% are new, the balance being 1 year old. The wine is then matured in barrel for approximately 18 months.
The Howard Park Leston Cabernet Sauvignon bursts with upfront sweet fruit flavour of considerable length which is tempered by fir tannins. Aromas of raspberry, dark cherries and blackcurrants intermingle with faint mintiness of the classic Margaret River mould. Since its release in 2000 this wine has achieved much praise and proudly won Gold medals in the 2003 New Zealand Liquorland Top 100 and 2004 International Wine Challenge and was awarded 96 points and also nominated as one of Best of the Best Wines in James Halliday’s 2007 Australian Wine Companion.
The 2007 Leston Cabernet Sauvignon has a dense dark red to black colour of great intensity. Its bouquet is intense and intriguing led by the ripe blackcurrants, violets and leafy forest floor with dusty and savoury undertones, inviting and opulent but brooding in its youth. Behind the primary fruits are distinctive vineyard characteristics of dark chocolate and warm earth and leaf litter. The oak is background cedar which will recede further as the fruits emerge with some bottle age. This wine personifies intense fleshy and full mid palate Cabernet with rich fruit weight with blackcurrant and earthy flavours. The 2007 Leston shows rare fruit sweetness, well integrated oak and generous open knit gravelly textured tannins. A classic Margaret River Cabernet from a great year.
Complete Tasting Note
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