This wine shows the style of the vintage and quite likely the impact of the small crop. In such years, Cabernet Sauvignon in particular, has a complex but somewhat subdued nose, where the wine hints of the underlying power and complexity but takes years to reveal its true colours. So here we see smouldering red currant, black currant and mulberry, with a floral, violet lift, sitting over cedar and tar. On the palate there is concentration and length - dark fruits combining with firm tannin and leather and tarry notes.

Subtle threads of violets, cherry blossom and fresh juniper berries serve as highlights to an ample tapestry of black plums, cacao nib and ironstone. Sheer textures of crushed granite and black cherry skin are laced with porcelain tannin and quenching natural acidity.

'Black Label' Cabernet Sauvignon, which was first vintaged in 1954, has evolved markedly over the decades. It is arguably Australia's most recognised Cabernet Sauvignon, and has more than any other, helped define Coonawarra. The wine is matured in new and seasoned French oak for 12 to 18 months. A classic Coonawarra Cabernet with pristine dark berry/ cassis aromas, fine grained tannins and underlying savoury nuances, it develops into a rich, chocolaty wine with age. In a super vintage, this wine can look astonishingly like a 2nd or 3rd growth Bordeaux with its pure cassis aromas and cedary complexity. See Chief Winemaker Sue Hodder speak about the spectacular 2015 release:

Cape Mentelle's Cabernet Sauvignon under the guidance of Rob Mann has become one of Australia's most prestigious Cabernet's. Sourced from what many believe to be the true home to Cabernet in Australia, the Margaret River, Cape Mentelle produce a wine that has a plush full-flavoured palate of concentrated blackcurrants and mulberries with a minerally spine. Richly textured and vibrant the palate finishes long with fine yet firm gravelly tannins. A superb candidate for some medium to long term cellaring.

Like the Command block, which is an amazing resource to the Elderton Estate, the Ashmead block has consistently produced small parcels of excellent quality fruit. The vineyard was almost destroyed in 1997 to make way for higher yielding vines, however the family made the decision to promote the vineyard to a higher destiny thus the Ashmead.