Description
Nobody keeps diaries any more. The stuff that we are interested in tends to be regarded as either banal or too dangerous to commit to print. The attitude that I met when I inquired of my Uncle George about his parents and grandparents was that they were all God Fearing, well behaved types and ‘let’s leave it at that, shall we’! But I knew that every family has its black sheep (my dad for instance) so that didn’t cut any mustard with me. Family are the people who, when you really need help, you can count on them, but they are also your keenest critics. They don’t hold back. Family members who are in business together do not give each other the respect and tolerance that non family members get. That behaviour begins in the nursery and it’s always simmering below the surface. It’s a by-product of passion. We must begin with Maria Eva Iffland (2/5/1835 to 21/3/1916) who arrived 4th April 1849 (age recorded as 16) in Sydney in the ship ‘Beulah’ with her parents Johan, aged 50 (winemaker) and Elizabetha 42 (wife) Conrad 17 (wine cooper), Annamaria 15 (House servant) and Clara 8 (sister). They came from the village of Eltville located on the steep southward facing slopes of the westward flowing Rhine River. These slopes are covered by grape vines. Wine has been made there since Roman times the largest vineyards associated with monasteries founded from about 1200 onwards. The area is called the Rheingau. The chief grape varieties are Rhine Riesling and Pinot noir. These Benedictines and the Cistercian monks were merry fellows as well as learned types familiar with hard manual work, metallurgy and hydraulic engineering. They copied the bible by hand decorating each page in a sumptuous style. Apart from celibacy, it sounds like a well balanced lifestyle.
Happs Cabernet Sauvignon 2013
Happs Tasting Note
A medium to full bodied wine with concentrated fruit flavour and good structure. The flavours are of black currant, red currant, black jubes, and maraschino cherry with hints of black olive, stewed rhubarb and bitter chocolate. The palate is tight with good acidity and noticeable grainy tannin that combine to give the wine the classic drying structure one expects from this variety. A wine that will undoubtedly reward those who lay it down for a few years.
Vine Collective Tasting Note
Dark fruit, black currant, black jubes, violets and cedar aromas with hints of green plum, rum, eucalypt and the tomato leaf character typical of this variety grown in this region.
From The Producer Tasting Note
This very noble variety from Bordeaux has found a natural home here in Margaret River. From the first plantings in the region it was clear that this variety belonged here and the district now produces some of the country’s most regarded Cabernet Sauvignons. What is really special about Margaret River and Cabernet is not that it simply makes good wine from the variety but that it makes regionally distinct, good wines from the variety. While wine descriptions are subjective I describe this regionally distinct character as fresh tomato leaf. Whilst this tomato leaf character provides additional complexity to Cabernet Sauvignon it must not dominate the wine. Great Cabernet is about rich red berry and blackcurrant fruit flavours with strong and obvious tannin throughout. Thus this tomato leaf note ideally should sit in the background as a unique regional marker. Essential to achieving this is a long cool ripening period as is offered to us by our Three Hills vineyard in Karridale. Additionally a trellis system which allows good light exposure for both fruit and leaves helps ensure that sweet berry fruit elements predominate over the more herbal elements that can negatively affect this variety. Cabernet Sauvignon grown at our Three Hills vineyard has enjoyed great wine show success over the years and we have equally high expectations of this wine.
