Heartland Directors Cut Cabernet Sauvignon 2018  £23.12

HEARTLAND DIRECTORS CUT CABERNET SAUVIGNON

Directors’ Cut is Heartland’s most powerful expression of Langhorne Creek. The 2012 vintage enabled them to release their first ever vintage of Directors’ Cut Cabernet Sauvignon. We are now on our 3rd vintage of this wine and it just keeps getting better.

Only the finest Cabernet vineyards in Langhorne Creek contributed to Directors’ Cut. The old vine fruit is the cornerstone of this wine’s character. The fruit was harvested at night to retain freshness. Initial skin contact was followed by 7 days of cool fermentation with our Rhône isolate yeast and hand-plunging three times daily. Maturation then occurred in new oak hogsheads (both French and American) for approximately 14 months.

2014 followed the classic road of a late vintage accompanying a late Easter. Deep soil moisture from a traditional winter flood bolstered us against the warm summer days, as did the cooling Langhorne Creek winds. We were spared the late February rains that harried other regions in South Australia. A generous year in both quantity and quality of fruit.

The 2014 vintage of Directors’ Cut Cabernet Sauvignon does not lack fruit intensity and depth. However, it is the colour that first attracts the attention, while the notes of spice and classic Cabernet structure dominate the aromas. The palate offers fresh blueberry, rhubarb and plum jam, with a nuanced and complex character in flavour profile and finish. This may be the longest lasting effort to date. Pairs well with acoustic Bob Dylan.

Halliday Rating 90/100

Drink By 2034

"No escaping the fact that oak is playing a big part here, its mocha and coffee aromas much in evidence. The cabernet character makes its move on the palate, with blackcurrant and blackberry flavours leading the way, and some cooler, leafy notes providing another dimension. Perhaps needs a little time for the varietal/regional expression to develop fully."