2004 Howard Park Scotsdale Cabernet Sauvignon Tasting Notes

The Howard Park Scotsdale Cabernet Sauvignon is sourced from one of the oldest vineyards in the Mount Barker area of the Great Southern. The vineyard is given extraordinary attention with canopy management designed to maximize fruit exposure to the sunlight and yields are low to achieve concentration in the grapes. The grapes are harvested according to flavour with little regard for analytical data, fermentation occurs in open topped stainless steel tanks with highly aerative pumpovers that are integral in tannin development. At completion of fermentation the Cabernet Sauvignon is given some 15 days on skins after completion of fermentation to further develop the tannin profile prior to going to French oak barriques; 75% new 25% 1 year old. The wine was matured in the barrel for approximately 18 months. There was minimal fining and filtration performed.

The wine appears crimson red of medium density. The hallmark of Mount Barker Cabernet Sauvignon from a good year is understated elegance and complexity in both the bouquet and palate. This wine displays the ripe cherry and berry fruits with forest floor like herbal aromas so typical of top Mount Barker Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine is at the time of writing more subdued than its sister Leston wine but the underlying intensity and depth of fruit character on the nose is already evident. The palate, like the nose, has a dimension of understated power with a soft and elegant mouthfeel that belies the intensity of the fruit flavours and the depth of the tannin influence. This is a wine much more in the classic old world style in which the textural components play a larger part than primary fruit influences.

Medium term
5-8 years