The 2024 season was the earliest on record. A warm dry winter in 2023 led to a moderate spring but from mid September to April we had no rain. The dry and warm conditions meant we had finished picking 4-5 weeks earlier than the average (which is moving forward every year…).

Sourced from our Yallingup vineyard nestled upon the slopes of the Gunyulgup Valley in the north of Margeret River. The block itself has million dollar views of the ocean, faces east upon an old creek bed. The soils are typically gravelly at the top and runs into a fruit salad of cream and red clays and river stones.

We have previously used Malbec as a blender with other wines in our portfolio and we still do. However the 2024 vintage has enabled us to release a tiny quantity of this medium bodied rising star variety for the first time. The fruit was handpicked and stemmed to open top fermenters. After cold soaking, the wild ferment took about 12 days on skins to complete. Aged in a puncheon and barrique oak vessel for 10 months.

The 2024 Malbec, having a typical dark purple colour, shows a mix of raspberry and cranberry fruit characters with some orange blossom and leather highlights. The ripe fruit characters are balanced by the opulent fine tannin and bright acidity. A juicy youthful medium bodied palate that will settle over the next couple of years in bottle. Try with Bahn Mi containing crispy pork belly and pate.