Ebony is a classic Australian blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Shirproduced from both Deep Woods estate-grown fruit and selected grapes from other Margaret River growers. The wine is, as the leading Perth-based critic Ray Jordan has said, one of the... ‘best budget buys that hits the mark year in and year out’.
The two varieties are handled separately in the winery using a range of techniques including open-top fermentation and both pre- and post-fermentation maceration.
The philosophy is simple: fruit richness, make a wine with flavour and soft, approachable tannins. Ebony typically shows ripe, spicy aromas of currants and plums, red berry and plum flavours with underlying spice and toast from the oak. Soft, ripe tannins add length and characteristic regional structure. Drink on release and over the following 2-3 years.
Gold Medal (95 points) and Trophy, Best Shiraz Cabernet Blend, Royal Queensland Wine Show, Brisbane 2019.
Gold Medal, Australian Classic Blends -- 2018 & Older, Royal Hobart Wine Show 2019.
Top 100 Red Wines 2019, Ray Jordan, The West Australian
Another of the best budget buys that hits the mark year in and year out. Spicy plummy chocolate and blackcurrant fruit in abundance. A light touch of spicy oak completes a well-presented package.
92 points, Top 100 Red Wines 2019, The West Australian
Delicious tobacco and dark-berry aromas and flavours here with wet earth. Medium body. Light tannins.
90 points, JamesSuckling.com (June 2019)
Entry level wine but above average quality. It sticks to its brief of rich fruit, depth of flavour and approachability with aplomb. Uncluttered, ripe black fruit with sapid, chalky fruit tannins and firm acidity. Great value everyday drinking.
Wine Companion, February 2019
What you want in a blend of this nature from the get-go, abundance of black and red fruit tickles the nasal cavity. Touch of spice and cedar. The palate is rounded, inviting, layers of velvety chocolate sweep sensitively across the palate. Soft tannins and well-pitched acidity suggest this is a go-to proposition for now. You can see how it would charm a legion of hardened show judges with its come-hither ways... a crowd-pleaser, darn good drinking...
Stuart Robinson, The Vinsomniac, August 2019
Margaret River
Located three hours south of Perth, Margaret River is Western Australia’s most prestigious wine-growing region. Serious vineyard development began only in the late 1960’s following the publication of a report by John Gladstones in 1965 stating that the area had a similar climate to Pomerol or St Emilion, with low frost risk, plenty of sunshine and equable temperatures within the growing season promoting even ripening. Margaret River’s climate is warm and maritime, with some cooling influence provided by southeast trade winds. The soils derive from granitic and a gneissic rock over which laterite has formed. The region can be divided in three sub-regions: the cooler south between Yallingup and Karridale with predominantly lateritic gravelly loamy sands and sandy loams; the warm and sunnier Willyabrup in the centre with predominantly gravelly loams, but some gritty sandy loams and granitic gravels; and Margaret River in the north with similar soils, but slightly cooler temperatures. This is entirely consistent with style; the wines from Willyabrup being more generous than the highly structured wines of the north and the elegant styles of the south. Margaret River is best known for high quality Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc Semillon blends and top notch Cabernet Sauvignon and Bordeaux blends. Over the years, the region has established an astonishing reputation illustrating a consistency in quality and a strongly focused winemaking culture.
