The De Bortoli ‘Melba Vineyard’ at Dixons Creek has a rich history of exceptional Cabernet Sauvignon dating back to the 1970’s. The ‘Melba’ brand pays tribute to renowned operatic soprano diva, Dame Nellie Melba, and the ‘Melba Amphora’ has allowed De Bortoli to push the boundaries by integrating ancient winemaking techniques with modern thinking.

After hand-picked harvest, the fruit is meticulously sorted and destemmed to 1,000 Liters clay amphoras. The skins are hand-plunged during fermentation, the amphora is topped and the wine sat quietly for 120 days, soaking up colour from the skins and softening the tannin. The fruit and wine were removed from the amphora, pressed from the skins, and then matured for a further 150 days in amphora and older French oak. The wine is then gravity racked, settled, and bottled.

The long maceration times on skins and the porous nature of the clay amphora produces quite ethereal style Cabernet. Lighter initially but very stable colour and fine tannin and with a bright aging future. Bright, medium-bodied red, haunting, ethereal, scented autumnal aromas. Mouth-filling flavours, quite supple, fine tannin, gentle, earthen and complex.

James Halliday: 96Pts; The Real Review: 96Pts; Robert Parker: 95Pts; The Wine Front: 95Pts
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