Louis Latour Agencies

London Wine Fair : Cabernet with a Sense of Place

20 April 2017

Stand B22

New for 2017 we are presenting a series of Wine Flights throughout the three days of the London Wine Fair. Breaking our range of wines and cognacs into bite sized pieces, these flights will show case the breadth and variety of our products and new and sometime surprising ways.

Terroir is such an important factor when thinking about and tasting wine as it can affect the final result so dramatically. We will be looking at the factors influencing four different Cabernet Sauvignons from around the world and the differences between them are marked.

McHenry Hohnen Rocky Road Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon

Pioneer winemaker David Hohnen and his brother-in-law and vine-grower Murray McHenry established their joint venture, McHenry Hohnen Vintners in 2004. All the grapes are sourced from family owned vineyards in the southern part of the Margaret River region. They embrace a 'hands-off' winemaking philosophy, where each wine is a focussed expression of its variety, its growing season and its individual site.

The Rocky Road vineyard (pictured) lies in the headwaters of the Chapman Brook, near Witchliffe in the South of the Margaret River region. With a northerly aspect, the vines enjoy long days of sunshine, moderated by the vineyard's southern location. The vines are cane pruned on a single bilateral cordon with a vertically trained canopy. It is a simple and practical format that maximises light penetration and maintains a balanced vine. The wine is unfined and unfiltered; a purist’s Cabernet.

Morgenhof Estate Cabernet Sauvignon

Morgenhof Estate is situated in the Stellenbosch region of South Africa. The 213 hectare estate is located on the slopes of the Simonsberg Mountain where 78 hectares are planted to vineyards. The Estate has a long history. It was founded in 1692 and over the following three centuries changed hands several times. In 1993 the current owner Anne Cointreau bought the estate. Anne brought a wealth of knowledge and experience with her from France's Cognac where her family can trace their involvement in viticulture back to 1210.

Winemaker Andries De Klerk explained he looks to produce the concentrated, black fruit profile compared to lighter, juicier style. The dry land farming at Morgenhof helps the Cabernet give low yields with small berries so they are packed with flavour.  Also the vines are mature which aids with the mid palate depth they look to achieve. In short the wine is exploding with fruit but has enough structure to reward the patient drinker as well!

Viu Manent La Capilla Cabernet Sauvignon

Celebrating their 80th anniversary in 2015, Viu Manent are one of Colchagua’s oldest wine producers. In the 1960s the Viu family where fortunate to buy a very old vineyard called San Carlos close to the town of Cunaco in Central Colchagua. This own rooted vineyard was first established in the 19th century with cuttings from France and contained many fine Malbec and Cabernet vines.

Viu Manent use their single vineyard series of wines to demonstrate the definition of their region, and variety that contributes to the complexity and personality of each wine. The grapes for this wine are from a selection of the best blocks (1-4) from La Capilla vineyard. The vines are 22 years old and yields are controlled to produce very ripe, concentrated fruit that is then aged for 14-18 months in French oak barrels to create this wine of outstanding character.

Wakefield Estate Cabernet Sauvignon

Wakefield is a third generation family wine business and was founded in 1969 by Bill Taylor who was inspired by his love for the red wines of Bordeaux’s Medoc region. He was drawn to South Australia’s Clare Valley where his first 178 hectare vineyard was planted on the banks of the Wakefield River close to the village of Auburn. The vineyard was carefully chosen to benefit from red-brown loam over limestone soils (also known as Terra Rossa) and the Clare Valley’s cool climate which were known to be ideal for the cultivation of Cabernet Sauvignon vines.

The Clare Valley is an expanse of sweeping gullies and rolling hills. During the grapes’ growing season, the days are warm and the nights are cool. It's this diurnal temperature range – from as much as 40 degrees C in the day, to only 5 degrees C at night, along with the character-forming ‘terra rossa’ soil which makes the Clare Valley equally favourable for producing superb Cabernet Sauvignon. Wakefield’s Cabernet block basks in the sheltered warmth of the river flat but yields very shy bunches of tiny berries, creating a rich, full-bodied wine.

On tasting

Monday 12.30 – 3pm | Wednesday 9.30am – 12.00pm

Don’t forget to join us in the last half an hour of the day for a Frapin cocktail and a demonstration of how using dry or hot chais during maturation can impact cognac.