A special limited release of age-worthy Cabernet sourced from one of the Alpine Valleys’ oldest vineyards.

Released July 2024

 I have known Kay and Allan Souter, the (now former) owners of the old ‘Rosewhite Vineyard’, since 2004, when I borrowed a bit of winemaking equipment and in return, made some wine for them. Established in 1982, it is a modest little plot, just five acres on a well-drained north-facing site with granitic soils. The vineyard has small volumes of Gewurztraminer, Chardonnay and Shiraz but it is the Cabernet Sauvignon that has always stood apart for me. The Souter’s winemaking venture was always secondary to their Melbourne-based professional lives, but for close to twenty years they quietly produced small volumes of lovely wine under their eponymous wine label.  

In 2021 Allan and Kay decided that retirement from professional life should also extend to their winemaking ventures and a parcel of slow ripened Rosewhite Cabernet came my way.  In 2022 I was again fortunate to have access to this fruit, and took custody of a small parcel of hand-picked Cabernet in mid April. It was chilled, crushed and cold soaked prior to natural ferment in an open pot with extensive hand plunging. At the conclusion of ferment, it was basket pressed and matured in French barriques (30% new) for eleven months, retaining malo lees for texture and complexity.

The 2022 Mayford ‘Rosewhite’ Cabernet Sauvignon is perfumed, balanced and ageworthy. Deeply fragrant with notes of violet, cassis, dried herbs, plush dark fruits and cocoa, the palate is full bodied and supple with dusty varietal tannins. 

Drink 2026 – 2040.

Bottled February 2024

Bottled under screwcap.