Hickinbotham Clarendon Vineyard
Hickinbotham (Clarendon Vineyard) is a new ultra-premium, small batch range produced by Jackson Family Wines (who also own Yangarra). The historic Clarendon vineyard was planted by Alan Hickinbotham in 1971, and quickly established itself as truly unique site, going on to become the source of premium fruit for many illustrious brands over the years, including Clarendon Australis (ongoing), Penfolds Grange and Eileen Hardy.
Trueman represents Cabernet in Clarendon at its best. Its purity, its elegant style, its supple, polished nature ... it’s a wine of its own. Distinct in character, this is not like Cabernet from the Vales below or the hills to the east. From its pretty, delicate florals and musk, through to its silky blackcurrant and kalamata juice and down to its dark carbon soul - Trueman is a modern Cabernet that encapsulates all the toil and antiquity of Clarendon. Echoing the unearthed prose of wine writer Ebenezer Ward from 1886 on the Cabernet sown from this very land – Trueman is "an excelled wine, of very marked flavor and bouquet”.
Winemaker Chris Carpenter worked with Viticulturer Michael Lane to deliver the grapes hand-picked from Clarendon’s high country (220 metres). After destemming, the berries were sorted straight into open fermenters. The cold soak was four days, the wines were pumped over twice daily, and the minimum time on skins was fourteen days. The wine was then basket pressed, combining the resultant free run and light pressings; the heavier pressings were kept separate. Four rack-and-returns were conducted over eighteen months as the wine seasoned in a mixture of fine-grained Bordeaux-coopered barrels.
Tasting Notes
Winemaker's Comments
Trueman is the pinnacle of Clarendon Cabernet. This is a bright, energetic, brilliantly active and entertaining wine. Lithe and elegant, as the vintage dictated, but complex, and promising far within. The pretty topnote aromatics cover the first impressions of flavour. Step two is the strapping acid-and-tannin realisation; then the finish goes on and on: a dainty but determined and forceful sensation of texture more than flavour.
Grapes/Blend 100% Cabernet Sauvignon
pH 3.66
Acid (g/L) 6.58
Vinification
Winemaker Chris Carpenter worked with Viticulturer Michael Lane to deliver the grapes hand-picked from Clarendon's high country (220 metres). After destemming, the berries were sorted straight into open fermenters. The cold soak was four days, the wines were pumped over daily, and the minimum time on skins was twenty-one days. The wine was then basket pressed, combining the resultant free run and light pressings; the heavier pressings were kept separate.
Maturation
Three rack-and-returns were conducted over fifteen months as the wine seasoned in a mixture of fine-grained Bordeaux-coopered barrels.
Aroma
Bergamot and blueberry.
Palate
Fine, fresh and strapping. It's an elegant, savoury wine now, but will smooth out and flesh up to memorable opulence with a decade or two in the cellar.
Cellaring Potential 10-20 years
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