SmithCullam Shiraz Cabernet
This wine originated from the desire to capture the richness and spicy intensity of shiraz and the bold plump fruit notes of cabernet, the two varietals that we believe thrive in the warm days of the Frankland River Region. Traditional Australian shiraz-cabernet blends were invariably made with fruit sourced from warm climate regions. Indeed, the demise of shiraz cabernet blends and the rise of cabernet merlot blends largely corresponds with the increase in cool climate viticulture in Australia. One interesting consequence of this is that few attempts have been made to produce a shiraz-cabernet blend with fruit from a cool climate vineyard. The Frankland Estate winemaking team decided this was a worthy challenge and resolved through careful selection of our best shiraz and cabernet sauvignon fruit from the Isolation Ridge vineyard to make a wine that, despite having its roots in a traditional style, would be very much an expression of the best in contemporary cool climate viticulture and winemaking. Only very select parcels of fruit are used and, in an effort to best capture the stunning opulence of Frankland River grown fruit, the only oak treatment was in 500 litre puncheons rather than traditional 225 litre barriques. The fruit selection and bench trial processes used in making this wine were so stringent only very limited quantities are available. However we think we have succeeded in demonstrating a cool climate shiraz-cabernet blend can offer a seductive combination of power and elegance.