Ironstone Basket Weave Cabernet Sauvignon 2018

For our first Ironstone Cabernet Sauvignon we selected fruit from our “Orchard Block”, which was planted in 1967, using the famous low yielding “Reynell Clone”. The 50 year old “Basket Weaved” vines provided us with a very robust Cabernet, with excellent varietal character, backbone and longevity to produce an Ironstone wine. We barrel fermented 25% of the wine in new French oak barriques, with 75% matured in 3-4- year-old barriques. Oak maturation was 26 months. This full bodied Cabernet shows blackberry, blueberry, mint julep, rosemary and ripe red capsicum on the bouquet, with hints of cedar and toasted almond from the oak. The powerful intense palate delivers, blackcurrant, bramble, black olive, tobacco and red currants, enhanced by tinges of celery seed and lemony oak, all enveloped by front forward tannins, that balance and control the ripe fruit.

Now in the capable hands of Geoff Johnston, a winemaking graduate of Charles Sturt University and grandson of the winery’s founder, Pirramimma has seen many significant changes, including the construction of a 3100m² naturally cooled rammed earth barrel storage facility and the expansion of vineyards to 240 acres and 13 varieties. Known as a “Professor of Soil”, he has also spent over 25 years converting Pirramimma’s sterile land into a living organism, as well as reducing the winery’s ecological footprint through various projects including solar systems, dams and even a wine turbine. As a winemaker, Geoff has a worldly perspective. After a study trip to France his interest for the Bordeaux grape variety, Petit Verdot was developed. Geoff planted a small trial area of the grape in 1983, which has since expanded to 35 acres of mature vines. Pirramimma Petit Verdot vintages have been awarded internationally multiple times with European wine magazine WeinWisser asking… ‘is there any better Petit Verdot in the world?’ Geoff not only pioneered Petit Verdot in Australia, he was the first to introduce the Southern French variety Tannat to McLaren Vale. In 2021, Geoff celebrated his 50th vintage – a fitting half century for the accomplished cricketer and dogged batsman.