Cabernet Sauvignon 51%, Shiraz 49%.
The nose displays ripe red forest fruit accompanied by subtle notes of toasted oak and cigar box. This is then transferred seamlessly through to the palate that delivers the power and concentration expected of a wine of this calibre with great silky textural phenolics and great restraint.
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The Patron is the hero of the Taltarni range, representing the epitome of the estate’s quality in terms of both vineyard and winemaking.
Blended from specially selected sites of both Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz at the Estate’s vineyard in the picturesque Pyrenees, this wine is scrupulously handcrafted to truly express not only the local terroir but also the absolute spirit of that which is Taltarni.
The vines are meticulously tended in the quest for perfection; including a green harvest at veraison, reducing the yield to 1 tonne per acre in order to truly represent our vineyard terroir. The cool nights and warm days of the Pyrenees provide the ideal conditions to allow slow ripening of the fruit.
This wine represents the epitome of the Estate’s quality in terms of both vineyard and winemaking. It has structure and finesse along with drive and concentration and is the true essence of Taltarni Vineyards.
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Cellar for 10 - 20 years.
The 2018 growing season received low rainfall, which was ideal for the ripening of the two components of this blend.
Harvesting each variety separately almost 3 weeks apart is hard to manage when you want to co-ferment, but we are lucky enough to be able to send the shiraz that ripened 3 weeks earlier to cold storage. When the cabernet sauvignon is ready to harvest, we bring the shiraz out of cold storage and destem the two together into the same tank. Cold maceration then takes place for 3 days while the grapes warm and initiate fermentation naturally. We then complete alcoholic fermentation over the next 12 days and maintain on skins for a further 4 weeks. This allows lovely soft supple tannin extraction and polymerization and a unique flavour profile only produced by the co-fermentation of the two varieties which is very distinctive as it would not exhibit the same result by blending wine the conventional way.
The wine is then pressed into barrel and undergoes malolactic fermentation in 60% new French oak. It is left to age for another 22 months in those barrels to deliver a wine showing elegance and power and a true representation of the terroir of Taltarni.
Harvested in the cool of the morning and processed into multiple small batch open-top fermenters, the fruit was allowed to cold soak to slowly extract the varietal flavours. Allowed to naturally start ferment, the fruit was traditionally handled and submerged with French oak boards to minimise all mechanical extraction and maximise the fruit aromatics and flavours. The wine was then transferred into 40% new French oak barrels where it was allowed to age and develop. This wine is made up of the best barrels hand-selected from each fermentation batch of each varietal.
Pair with peppered aged Angus ribeye steak.
Alcohol: 14%
pH: 3.51
Acidity (TA): 6.7 g/L
Pyrenees, Victoria.
95 Points & Outstanding – Stuart Knox in The Real Review
“Deep ruby red colour. Blackberry, bramble and cola spices lift from the glass. Dark fruits fill the palate with intensity and power. Still in a primary phase but the hints of graphite and boudin noir noted show there’s much more to come with this wine. Tannins are prodigious yet balanced perfectly, carrying the whole line extremely long and perfectly focused.”
92 Points & Silver Medal– 2024 Halliday Wine Companion
"A bold, full-bodied, structural wine that needs time in the cellar to mature. The black fruit is intense, the oak is assertive, and the tannins are prominent. The fruit has gorgeous fragrance, depth and brightness, though its volume is a fair bit quieter than the structural elements. The wine looks magnificent with food. It is a red for aged cheddar, open fires and grandfathers." - Toni Paterson