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One of the truly great partnerships in the Barossa is the blending of Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz. Whatever the proportions and regardless of whether Shiraz or Cabernet is dominant the synergy is unmistakable.At david Franz I'm pretty much always putting Cabernet Front and Center!
The components for the 2018 Alexander’s Reward Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz: Cabernet Sauvignon from the ‘House on the Hill’ Cabernet Sauvignon block - 75% - (which drives this blend) along with a selection of Shiraz parcels - 25% - which were all sourced from our 'House on the Hill' and 'Stone Well Hill' Vineyards
Total production 1500 bottles - released October 2023
Deep dense red with hints of brick lingering around the meniscus.
spearmint perfume layered over black and redcurrant and summer berries. lifted vanilla oak blends back and is filled out with the complexity of the spicy French giving an beautifully balanced nose
The initial richness of the full raspberry characters are poised against the spearmint menthol over finely balanced against firm oak and fruit Tannins. Good acid against the fruit sweetness, cleanses the senses for a beautifully balanced mouthful.The middle palate is full of the of the big berry hit of Cabernet supported by the leathery richness of Shiraz. The long palate finishes with the deep bass complexity brought out by extended lees contact.
It’s the 6th of September 2023 and early spring is poking its flowery head out here, there and everywhere! A happy, sunny day smiles through the window as I sit and muse over the words for the 2018 Alexander’s Reward - which is a big contrast to this time last year. Alex, who turned 18 a couple of weeks ago, is on the home stretch for completing year 12. Even though he could never be accused of loving school - tiresome I think would best describe that relationship - Alex, ironically has the most academic brain of us all. That said, I’m pretty confident he’ll bull his way through in a handy fashion… bitching and moaning all the way home. When questioned about his post school plans, he’s given me one of the most refreshingly honest answer of all his siblings, “Anything but STUDY!” Happily, Alex has not rested on his laurels and the ‘2024 step one’ plan is now underway. In what has now become a Lehmann family tradition, he’s put in his application to do his first vintage next year with Yalumba. It’s where Dad (PL) and my brother Phil both started their careers and where Alex’s older sister Georgie, did her second one before coming home to make wine. I’m pretty optimistic he’ll make the cut, as Yalumba has always been about the continuity of family connections and uplifting local applicants by preference. I reckon his decision is fifty percent ‘make some money for travel’ and fifty percent a desire to see what this whole ‘wine malarkey’ thing is all about. Fair! I guess, as the academic and calendar year winds down, only time will tell how it’s all going to work out. On the upside… at least we’ve got a bottle or three of a pretty tasty 2018 ‘Claret’ help pass the time.
The 2018 Alexander’s Reward Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz is a ‘Dark Mirror’ to its eponymous year. The 2018 vintage benefited beautifully from the cooler wetter preceding year, and to my mind was a ‘proper’ Barossa year. Soil profiles were nicely ‘topped up’ with moisture and a perhaps a later than we were used to, but a delightfully even bud burst set the tone nicely for the growing season. That said, it was a gentle paced growing season right from the start. First tranche of Shiraz for the Alexander’s Blend wandered in from the Bultawilta and Stone Well Hill blocks in mid-March, followed by the Horse and House Block Shiraz and all the Cabernet Sauvignon in early April. The 2018 Alexander’s Reward Cabernet Shiraz was crafted in small batch parcels drawn from Sand, Loam and Clay. Each batch was hand plunged three times a day during ferment before being basket pressed after a total of 30-35 days on skins for the Shiraz and 60 days on skins for the Cabernet. The wine was filled with full lees to a mix of old and new Oak for 32 months maturation before being racked to tank to settle. After final blending, 2300 bottles were filled (unfiltered) of the 2018 Alexander’s Reward Cabernet Shiraz in November 2021. Team david Franz have as always finished the bottle with the hand printed love we would never let it leave home without.
Enjoy and Cheers!
Enjoy and Cheers!
