1997 Howard Park Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot Tasting Notes

The 1997 season produced red grapes with very small skins and a high skin to pulp ratio. The resultant wines showed great concentration of colour and flavour. Special batches of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot were identified in vineyards in the Great Southern and in Margaret River, the fruit was picked at full ripeness and processed separately in small static fermenters. The wine was matured in 100% new French oak barriques for 24 months prior to final blending.
The Howard Park Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot is the product of the most stringent selection criteria all the way from the vineyard to the bottle, only the best and most balanced fruit was chosen at each successive selection step to continue the path to bottle.

The wine is an attractive blood red of medium density with some tan development but still maintaining predominantly reddish hues. Aromatically it displays a complex array of berry and cassis fruit characters with forest floor aromas of medium intensity with dusty, earthy development characters. Primary fruit aromas still present but the secondary characters are becoming more prominent. The palate is mature with cherry fruits and dusty, earthy flavours of medium intensity. This is no blockbuster but rather an elegant and refined cool climate Cabernet.