Woodlands Wines 'Emily' Cabernet Franc Merlot

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‘Emily’ is produced from the 5 Bordeaux grapes on our Woodlands Brook Vineyard – Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Petit Verdot. This wine is made in very limited quantities, an average of 300 cases being produced each year.

‘Emily’ began in 1989. Woodlands had almost ceased production, but David Watson and his great friend Peter Anderson decided to make a “right bank” blend comprising equal parts of the five Bordeaux grapes. In 2008 ‘Emily’ moved to our Woodlands Brook Vineyard, where it has been produced from since.

2019 was a classic year for Margaret River, avoiding both extremes of heat and of rainfall. In fact, 2019 was indeed very close to the average vintage conditions of Margaret River in the 1980’s and 1990’s. These mild conditions were ideal for flavour development and retention of acidity, and our 2019’s are showing wonderful brightness, delicacy and balance.
Once harvested the fruit was destemmed and mechanically sorted by our gravity fed system, then hand sorted over a vibrating sorting table berry by berry. Fermentation went well, with all batches fermented to dryness without yeast added, and the must spent between 14 and 28 days on skins. Following fermentation this wine was matured in 300L French oak hogsheads for 14 months, of which thirty three percent were new.

Our 2019 ‘Emily’ is a blend of 45% Cabernet Franc, 45% Merlot, 8% Malbec, 1% Cabernet Sauvignon and 1% Petit Verdot.

The colour is a deep crimson. The nose shows a brooding mix of blackcurrant, rum and raison, and cocoa. The palate’s entry is pristine, and shows red berry fruits, with notes of cranberry and violet. The finish is mineral, with velvety tannins.

Best enjoyed from 2025-2030.