Hay Shed Hill|Margaret River|Premium Wines

The Hay Shed Hill Block Series of wines are made from small parcels of fruit from individual blocks on the vineyard that have been identified as producing the best grapes on the property, with hand crafted care in the winery these wines are a fine interpretation of an outstanding site.

The Block Series wines showcase the best from the Hay Shed Hill vineyard.

Block 2 on the Hay Shed Hill vineyard was planted in 1973 to the Houghton clone of Cabernet Sauvignon. These old dry grown vines have sunk deep roots into the gravelly loam soil profile providing the nutrient basis they need. Block 2 has a steep northern facing aspect maximizing the sunlight interception by the vines and thus providing ideal ripening conditions.

VINTAGE

The were some worries early in the piece with terrible conditions across Margaret River through November, wet, cold and windy it did look like 2009 could be a shocker but the weather improved and conditions remained ideal for the rest of vintage. In the end the main effect of this poor weather during flowering and fruit set was diabolically low yields in Cabernet Sauvignon in particular and poor yields across all varieties in general. Of course we all tell ourselves that the low yields produce good quality fruit – which is in fact the truth – but just a little more fruit would have been nice to appease the accountants.

The growing season was as close to perfect as any farmer has the right to ask for, cool but sunny, no rain to speak of with nice soft breezes to take the edge of the midday sun. The reds have amazing colour and will, make terrific wines, even though the cost of growing the grapes may exceed the income from wine sales.

WINEMAKING

The grapes from Block 2 were de-stemmed into open topped vessels for fermentation on skins with traditional pump over cap management. At the completion of fermentation the wine was left on skins for a further 10 days to maximize the development of the mature tannin. Maturation in French oak barriques for 18 months added further complexity and structure without dominating the fruit. The wine was matured in bottle for six months prior to release.

NOTES

The 2009 Hay Shed Hill Block 2 Cabernet Sauvignon has a dense blood red with a dark centre. The wine displays ripe berry aromas of great intensity with underlying dusty and earthy characters typical of Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon. There is depth to the nose indicating there are reserves of complex aromas yet to develop and be exhibited in the wine. The palate is substantial – this is a big wine by Western Australian standards with intense and fully ripe, fleshy sweet fruit filling the mid palate with great palate extension driven by the ripe and mature tannin. The mouthfeel is robust but the tannins are smooth. 

CELLARING

The 2009 Hay Shed Hill Block 2 Cabernet Sauvignon is a strong wine with ripe tannin and strong fruit depth indicating it will benefit from careful cellaring. The expectation is that the wine would benefit from 10 years maturation.

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