Tahbilk Eric Stevens Purbrick Cabernet Sauvignon 2017

Established in 1860 Tahbilk is one of Australia’s most beautiful & historic wineries. Located in the Nagambie Lakes region of central Victoria (120kms north of Melbourne), one of the nation’s premium viticultural areas, the property comprises some 1,214 hectares of rich river flats with a frontage of 11 kms to the Goulburn River and 8 kms of permanent backwaters & creeks. The vineyard comprises 168 hectares of vines which include the rare Rhone whites of Marsanne, Viognier & Roussanne, along with classical varieties such as Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Chardonnay, Riesling, Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc & Verdelho.

The Cambridge educated Eric Stevens Purbrick first set foot on Tahbilk in 1925 and was winemaker for more than 40 vintages between 1931 and 1978. He passed the winemaker mantle to his grandson, Alister Purbrick, after the 1978 vintage but remained a strong influence in the direction of Tahbilk until his passing in 1991. He was one of the early pioneers of varietal labelling in Australia but perhaps his greatest contribution to Tahbilk was to create the Special Bin Cabernet Sauvignon in 1952, which was to be made from the best vats of that vintage. Later a Shiraz was added to the range and both wines became known as "Reserve”. In recognition of his contribution to the Australian Wine Industry and for his extraordinary influence on Tahbilk , these wines now carry his name and signature…..Eric Stevens Purbrick. This wine has been made utilising traditional Tahbilk techniques with fermentation taking place in open oak vats, then a period of maturation in French oak for 18 months prior to bottling. The nose and palate exhibit a complex mixture of tobacco and spice combined with underlying anise and capsicum fruit characters whilst the finish is long and flavoursome, balanced with firm grape tannins.

In an old vine tale amongst the many that emanate from our Estate plantings, the material for this 'Eric Stevens Purbrick' release was sourced predominately from a 1949 planting of Cabernet Sauvignon.

The nose and palate exhibit an intense mixture of blackberry and eucalyptus combined with black olive and clove overtones whilst fine grained, dusty tannins add further complexity.