Wakefield St Andrews Cabernet Sauvignon 2014

St Andrews has an incredible list of alums. What, you're more of an Edinburgh kind of student? Well, answer us this, did your university play match maker to the future King and Queen of the United Kingdom? Yeah, didn't think so.

As wonderful as they are, they are not even the greatest alumni of St Andrews, that honour goes to Wakefield's St Andrews Cabernet Sauvignon. For as apt at managing a dukedom as they are, Will & Kate could never deliver an enticing bouquet of ripe blackcurrant, along with chocolate and mint intermingling harmoniously with notes of cedar and subtle tobacco. Sorry Will, there's a new Prince of St Andrews.

Wakefield is a third-generation family wine business and was founded in 1969 by Bill Taylor who was inspired by his love for the red wines of Bordeaux’s Medoc region. He was drawn to South Australia’s Clare Valley where his first 178-hectare vineyard was planted on the banks of the Wakefield River close to the village of Auburn. The vineyard was carefully chosen to benefit from red-brown loam over limestone soils (also known as Terra Rossa) and the Clare Valley’s cool climate.
Today Wakefield is headed up by Mitchell Taylor whose philosophy blends an ‘old world’ estate mind set with ‘new world’ winemaking innovation; coupled with an almost fanatical attention to detail and obsession with quality. This results in wines of tremendous quality and style that are made with respect for the company’s family heritage.
The grapes for this wine were taken the short distance to the winery where they were gently de-stemmed to protect the vibrant fruit characters and minimise any maceration and extraction of harsh tannins. The fruit was then transferred to stainless steel tanks where it was left to cold soak on skins for a period of 5 days before being inoculated with a specialist Cabernet Sauvignon yeast strain. Fermentation then ensued at a constant 22 – 25 degrees Celsius and the must was gently mixed twice daily. The wine was allowed a period of extended skin contact before being pressed and transferred to French oak barrels to complete the secondary malolactic fermentation. Once MLF was completed, the wine was racked off lees, fined and then then transferred back to fine-grained French oak barrels (40% new, 60% 2 – 3-year-old) for maturation. After a period of 18 months oak maturation and minimal filtration the wine was bottled.