UMAMU Estate MacAnn Cabernets 2019

The wine is named as a tribute to the estate’s founders, Mac and Ann. It is a Bordeaux blend style with a mix of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot, with the vineyards planted in 1997. Fermentation takes place in a combination of open and closed tanks. The wine is pressed off, after twelve to eighteen days of skin contact, and then spends a year and a half maturing in French oak, one-third new, mostly from the Allier forests in France. Dark magenta hue here, the wine is concentrated, intense and powerful. Brooding and coiled, if you like. The nose gives us dark berries, bay leaves, mocha, blackcurrants, chocolate, cigar boxes, warm earth and leather. The oak is evident but well handled and does not intrude. It is showing some early complexity with mouth filling tannins, good acidity and excellent length. This is still very youthful, with at least a decade ahead of it.