Little Reddie Bootleg Red NV 2024

Little Reddie Bootleg Red is a single-vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon grown on organically farmed rows at Colbinabbin in Heathcote.

The Colbinabbin ridge is one of Heathcote's better addresses, and this block sits in a prime stretch of the hill roughly 1.5 kilometres north of the Chalmers plantings. Mark Walpole set the vineyard up, orienting the rows east to west so the fruit gets even light and shade through the day, and it is now farmed organically under the Brown Brothers banner. Pat Underwood took the whole crop as straight Cabernet this year, unusual for a bottling that normally carries a bit of everything. Bunches were destemmed into stainless steel, the cap worked by hand across four weeks, then the wine pressed to old barriques for 18 months.

Dark and firm, with blackcurrant, bay leaf and a graphite edge picked up over the long haul in old wood. The tannins are dry and fine. Serve at 16 degrees with lamb shoulder, grilled eggplant or a sharp cheddar.