The Spice Rack: How a New Winery Changed Our Cabernet Forever

Wine Back Wednesday

A note from Matt on why building the winery in the middle of our Cabernet block quietly changed the way we pick, ferment and think about the wine.

If you have followed our Wine Back Wednesday notes through vintage, you will know this is not the tidiest time of year.

There are hoses everywhere, the floors stay wet, and most days move faster than they should. But it is also the point in the season where some of the most useful things become clear.

Working through our 2026 Cabernet Sauvignon, I found myself thinking about how much our approach has changed since we built the new winery. What began as a practical decision has ended up changing the wine itself.

We built the winery in the middle of our Cabernet block for convenience, workflow and, if I am honest, the view. What it also did was split the vineyard into smaller parts. That forced us to slow down and pay much closer attention to how each section of the block was behaving.

Before the winery was there, the Cabernet was treated more as one parcel. It was picked together, fermented together, and the wine was more uniform. Since then, we have had to work around the site, and in doing so we have become more precise about where fruit is coming from and what each section contributes.

The Two Parts of the Block

In the 1000 vine block, the soil is red clay loam mottled with quartz and ironstone. The canopy there is fuller and more even, and the fruit tends to show a finer, more tensile shape. I see red fruit, some blue notes, fine tannin and a sense of line.

In the South West block, the soils shift through red clay loam, pale brown clay loam and into darker Biscay. The canopy is more open and more variable, and the fruit feels different from the outset. That parcel tends to bring darker fruit, blackcurrant, violet, subtle chocolate, a broader palate and more chew through the tannin.

Each has its place.

Taken together, they give us more detail to work with when it comes time to build the final wine. I have started thinking of it as a bit of a spice rack. Instead of relying on one voice, we now have several components, each bringing something slightly different to the blend.

That is one of the advantages of working on a small scale. We do not have to flatten everything into one large parcel. We can keep sections apart, watch them closely, and make decisions with a little more care.

The Rougher Stage

At the moment, though, the wine is still in its rougher stage.

When I taste Cabernet straight from ferment, I often describe it as grubby. It is cloudy, still full of yeast, and the carbon dioxide can be quite aggressive. It is not a polished moment. But that is often where the shape of the wine first starts to show itself.

During ferment, we are doing regular pump-overs, drawing juice from the bottom of the tank and running it back over the cap to help extract colour, tannin and flavour from the skins. It is hands-on work, and not especially glamorous, but it matters.

At this stage, I am not tasting for finish or finesse. I am tasting for structure, balance and potential.

The 2026 Cabernet is showing plenty. The tannins are firm, but in a good way. There is grip there, and that usually tells me the wine will reward a bit of time.

What Comes Next

Once primary fermentation is complete, the wine will move to French oak and through malolactic fermentation. That next stage helps soften the acidity and settle the wine into itself a little. It is an important step, particularly in a year where the fruit has both intensity and structure.

What has me encouraged at this point is the balance between the different sections. One part brings brightness and line. Another brings depth and weight. That conversation between parcels is where the wine starts to become more interesting.

Building the winery in the middle of the vines may not have started as a winemaking decision, but it has become one of the most useful things that has happened to our Cabernet. It pushed us to look more closely at the block, respond to what was actually there, and treat each section with a little more respect.

That is often how wine improves. Not through one grand idea, but through a series of smaller decisions made more carefully.

This year’s Cabernet still has a long way to go, but the early signs are promising. And for me, that is one of the more satisfying parts of vintage — seeing something in its least polished state and recognising what it might become.