2022 Bande Apart Cabernet Franc

WINEMAKER: Jess DiGiorgio
REGION: Coonawarra, SA
VARIETY: Cabernet Franc
VITICULTURE: Organic

Taking on Cabernet Franc, and doing it justice, is no simple feat. So prepare to be completely delighted. With whole berries, gentle extraction and some time on skins before being pressed into old French oak for 8 months, Cabernet’s varietal herbaceousness gets whipped into soft peaks. Davidson plums and ripe mulberries come through on the nose, with fresh raspberries hiding in the bushes too. Earthy spice - cinnamon and a touch of paprika, but mostly it's delicious dark cherries, cassis and tomato leaf brushed with thyme. Gentle acidity, soft tannins, excellent length. There's a lot of winemaking here and it really pays off.

Grown by her family in Coonawarra, 100% whole berry, wild fermented, super gentle plunging with hands just to keep cap wet, 12 days on skins before being pressed out with her great Nonno's tiny basket press, into old French oak for 8 months, racked and bottled without fining or filtration.

Although 2019 was her first release, Jess is not new to the wine industry. Growing up in the Limestone Coast amongst a family of growers and winemakers, her grandparents were first vine growers, before making wine in the late nineties. Always interested in wine, but keen to take a different path, Jess was a physiotherapist for a few years, travelling and working all over Australia. She came back home to help with one vintage and realised that this was her happy place and ultimately what she wanted to do in the future. It was travelling to France to do vintage with Andrew Nielson from Le Grappin, an Aussie winemaker living and residing in Burgundy, that really sealed the deal." - Paul Hervy