2023 Wantirna Estate Hannah Cabernet Franc Merlot

95 pts
Super special, super rare - this Cabernet Franc and Merlot blend from Wantirna Estate is inspired by the elegant wines of Saint Emilion.

Price:
Sale price$199.00
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In stock, ready to ship
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Description

Only one barrel of this wine is made each year - less than 300 bottles - so it’s a rare release from Wantirna Estate.

It’s a 50/50 blend of Cabernet Franc and Merlot, made in the style of Saint-Émilion in France. The wine spends twelve months in a new French oak barrique from Dargaud and Jaeglé, followed by another fifteen months in bottle before release.

You can smell the Cabernet Franc straight away — lifted and floral — with Merlot bringing soft fruit and roundness. The flavours are balanced and fine, with gentle oak in the background. It’s elegant, medium-bodied and quietly confident.

If you get the chance to try it, don’t hesitate. This is one of the small gems of Victorian wine.

Philip Rich

Philip Rich

Halliday Wine Companion 95 Points

A cabernet franc/merlot blend matured in one new French barrique for 11 months. A deep-ish dark cherry red. Discreet with aromas of black cherry, licorice, iodine and a little hedgerow. A touch more compact and firmly structured than the last couple of Hannahs; there's a gentle earthiness that carries through onto the well-balanced and persistent finish. A wine that will continue to come into its own as it slowly unfurls over the next decade, if not longer.

A special release wine of which only one barrel is made each year – making approximately 288 bottles per year. A blend of around 50% of each variety, the wine is aged in a new barrique from the Burgundian cooperage of Dargaud and Jaeglé. To capture the fragrance and perfume of the cabernet franc, and the mulberry character of the merlot, the recent wines have been bottled after 12 months in barrel. A further 15 months of bottle-aging occurs before the wine is released.

The wine is inspired by the beautiful wines of St Emilion, in particular Chateau Cheval Blanc. The intriguing fragrance and the elegant weight of these varieties make it a wine to linger over. First made by Wantirna Estate in 1999, the age worthiness of the wine is gradually becoming evident.

Price Bracket $101 and Above
Type Red
Body Full Bodied
Variety Cabernet Franc
Country Australia
Region Yarra Valley
Australian State VIC
Reviewed By Halliday Wine Companion
The Weekend Australian
The Wine Front
Critic Score 95
Alcohol 13%
Size 750ml
Vintage 2023
Closure Screw Cap

Wantirna Estate

Wantirna Estate is a family affair, founded in 1963 by Reg and Bertina Egan.

This bucolic old-world-inspired vineyard is located not far from Melbourne town centre; now surrounded by suburbia, the proverbial rose amongst the thorns.

Now run primarily by Reg and Bertina's daughter Maryann, the estate produces a small premium range of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and classic medium-bodied Bordeaux blends that are elegant, classic and exceptional options for the cellar.

Reg describes their vineyard as a "never-ending world of change and enchantment".

Reg & Maryann Egan Wantirna Estate

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