Forester Estate

Margaret River Yelverton Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2023

Grape variety - 91% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7.5% Cabernet Franc, 1.5% Petit Verdot. Oak maturation - 15 months - 50% new and 50% 2 year old French oak barriques. Colour - Deep red with purple hue. Aroma - Showing great purity of fruit with supporting fine cedar oak, subtle cassis and a lavender perfume. There are dark and complex notes of cocoa, damp earth and liquorice. With air, the wine opens to show more pronounced cassis and bay leaf. Palate - Medium bodied with fine grain tannins. There are ripe fruit characters of cassis and mulberry with lavender, bay leaf and cedar oak. A complex and balanced wine that will evolve slowly over time. Decanting recommended. Food matches - This wine suits the classics. Try with matured hard cheeses, rosemary infused lamb or rare beef fillet steak. Peak drinking - Drinking well upon release but has the potential to evolve and impress towards 2034. Viticulture - Fruit sourced to make the Yelverton is grown with absolute attention to detail. Identification of soil boundaries within blocks is the first step in selecting potentially superior fruit. Close monitoring and analysis of these vines leads to shoot or bunch thinning by hand if required to obtain the perfect balance for good exposure and healthy ripening. A philosophy of minimal inputs in these premium blocks allows the unique combination of variety, soil type and microclimate to shine through and produce a parcel of fruit with true character. The 2023 vintage was a cool growing season with mild day temperatures, cold nights and no heat spikes. Winemaking - Our Forester Yelverton Cabernet Sauvignon parcels are gently crushed to small open fermenters and receive a slight “drain-off’ of free run juice to increase the skin to juice ratio. This helps intensify the flavour, aroma and body of the wine without altering the underlying unique vineyard qualities present. A slow temperature controlled ferment is employed with daily draining away of fermenting juice under gravity and pumping back over the skins to assist in the extraction. Heading down boards keep the ‘cap’ of skins submerged beneath the cool fermenting wine to avoid excessive heat which we believe leads to a more refined wine. The ideal skin contact time in fermenter varies from one vintage to the next with the 2023 Cabernet spending an average 25 days in contact with skins before pressing out. The best parcels are aged in fine grained French oak barriques for 15 months with careful blending of the Yelverton taking place approximately three months prior to bottling. Storage and Bottling - The 2023 Yelverton was bottled in July of 2024 to premium claret glass with a stelvin closure. Stored in our temperature controlled cellar prior to release this wine is drinking exceptionally well now and with prudent storage should continue to show well towards 2034.