The Swan Valley’s most famous son, former Houghton winemaker Jack Mann once said that Cabernet was the only grape tolerated in heaven. Indeed, it was Mann himself who harvested canes from the best performing 21 vines on the Estate vineyard that have since become the Houghton clone – source of some of Western Australia’s best wines.
The source of those 21 vines has not been resolved, but my interest was piqued when I discovered an old vine garden on the banks of Jane Brook, now home to Chapel Farm. It turns out these were the remnants of the old Vignacourt property, one of the earliest vineyard sites in Western Australia.
Thanks to the generosity and patience of the proprietor, we have been able to raise three vintages of wine from these gnarled old vines, including this inaugural 2023 release.
In true Swan Valley fashion (and probably due to the great age of the vineyard), the Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz vines are inter-planted with each other, making separate harvest impossible. It therefore takes some skill to judge the exact moment of harvest, with the earlier ripening Shiraz attracting the birds and the later-ripening Cabernet needing to shed some herbal flavours.
Following careful hand harvest, the fruit was crushed / destemmed and macerated for 10 days in an open fermenter. The wine was matured for 18 months in seasoned French oak barriques, prior to a period of tightening in stainless steel tank. As per house style bottled without fining or addition. It is a rare pleasure to taste an old vine wine that has been fermented with only indigenous yeasts and is not loaded to the gills with new oak. After breathing / decanting, a violet-like note is joined by the faintest whisper of menthol and earthy, soil like notes.
The extended maturation (by our standards) has provided a super-smooth, long mineral etched palate. The wine will evolve and develop over the coming years making tasting notes redundant. If you purchase this special wine in a restaurant, please request your sommelier to decant it.
