Cannonball Cabernet Sauvignon 2016

Cannonball is named after the curled-up ball shape that children often form when jumping into water in order to make as big a splash as possible. The name encapsulates the liberated joy that is the company's ethos and the 'big splash' that they want wines like this dark chocolate, allspice and blueberry-flavoured Cabernet to make. It's a good job they didn't name their winery 'Bomb', after the British name for this kind of dive, as we're not sure it'd get through customs.

Founded in 2006, the Cannonball Wine Company has grown from a modest Cabernet producer to a solid industry player. Its mission is to produce approachable, quality wines that deliver a serious splash. The winery was founded by Yoav Gilat, a consultant for many leading drinks brands, and Dennis Hill, a winemaking guru with 30 years of experience at the likes of Seghesio, Alexander Valley and Blackstone amongst others.

Cannonball Wines uses a dual-tier approach to source the fruit, using grapes from both small estate vineyards owned and managed by its winemaker, Dennis Hill, as well as from selected growers, with whom Dennis has had longstanding relationships. This approach allows them to achieve their signature approachable style and maintain continuity from vintage to vintage.

The growing season in 2009 was ideal in California, resulting in a large harvest, with optimum quality grapes that have gone on to produce truly great wines. The Cabernet grapes were de-stemmed and crushed and undergo a cold soak for three days. Gentle pumping over occurred during fermentation, which took place in stainless steel tanks. Malolactic fermentation took place afterwards. 50% of the wine spent nine months in French oak, while the other 50% was aged in American oak for 11 months, before the wine was blended and bottled.

On the nose, the wine offers dark red cherry, cocoa and a hint of toast. The palate is exceptionally balanced from start to finish, with gorgeous flavours of strawberry, blueberry and red apple dipped in dark chocolate, with hints of allspice and a layer of toasted oak. The tannins are structured but not overwhelming and the acidity is very well balanced.