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LEEUWIN ESTATE Prelude Cabernet Sauvignon, Margaret River

Grape variety - 89% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Cabernet Franc, 3% Petit Verdot. Oak maturation - 100% of the wine is aged in French oak barriques (20% new) for 15 months. Colour - Deep red with purple hue. Aroma - Ripe with dark fruit characters and toasty-cedar oak. The wine opens with mulberry, currant and blackberry with underlying complexity from bay leaf, gravel dust and subtle perfume. Palate - Full with a soft supple texture and fine tannins. Once again there are ripe fruit characters of mulberry, blackberry and boysenberry with cedar oak, bay leaf and lavender. The wine has a long soft finish. Food matches - Meat dishes, saucy pastas and cheeses. Peak drinking - Drinking well now but will develop further over the next 5 to 8 years.

The perfume is driven by a combination of violets, ripe cherries and cedar notes. A powerful palate of plums, black currants andnuances of bay leaf. Food Matches: rack of lamb, roasted vegetable lasagne ora juicy rib-eye steak. Peak drinking: Ready to enjoy on release but cellaring upto 10 years from vintage will find further complexity.

Lifted aromas of plum, cassis, spices and cedar oak. A tight tannin structure filled out by ripe dark fruits. Elegant yet generous, the wine continues on to a long finish. A tight tannin structure filled out by ripe dark fruits. Elegant yet generous, the wine continues on to a long finish.

TASTING:Stunning vibrant fruit aromatics blackberry, cassis, and forest fruits. There's a hint of earthiness and spice adding complexity and a savoury element. The tannins are fine and long and drive the palate. Hint of red berries and pomegranate linger on the palate. The oak is intergrated and classy. WINEMAKING:Machine harvested fruit, crushed and destemmed. A portion of the fruit fermented in open-top fermenters, and the main portion in a larger format red fermenter. Macerated on skins for 10 days before being pressed into temperature controlled tanks to finish fermentation. Aged in 15% new oak, mostle French and some Hungarian for 18 months.

This wine has character and class, with Malbec adding richness and enhancing the vibrant fruitiness ofthe blend. Blackberry, plum, and black cherry flavors shine through, complementing the Cabernet's traditional notes of blackcurrant and cassis. The wine dances the line between serious and fun,finishing with fine, long, silky tannins and a hint of mocha spice.