Cabernet as drawn by MC Escher, exquisitely etched, scrawling volumes into the tiny details. Mulberry and cassis, fennel seed and bay leaf, violets pressed between dusty tissue paper. A diaphanous sheath of fruit deftly draped over a compact and composed framework. Lovely fine acid line and microfine tannins that sit effortlessly in the wine.

A 45/45/10% cabernet sauvignon/merlot and cabernet franc/petit verdot blend with the majority coming off the original dry-grown 1963 plantings. A fabulous, bright crimson/purple. A touch riper and richer than the '22. There's a sumptuous core of dark fruits, violets, cedar and fresh pencil shavings on the nose. It's just as enticing on the perfectly pitched, medium bodied, elegant and very persistent palate. Everything is in place for a long and productive life!

Blackcurrant, raspberry, redcurrant, lots of pencils, a dusty spicy almost peppery top note, roast red capsicum, some menthol, violets too. It’s medium-bodied, very tight with cool glassy acidity, again those pencils and dark tobacco, a fine grainy grip to tannin, with a crunchy cranberry finish of excellent length. It’s a vintage where the Cabernet Franc perfume and brightness seems to ride quite high, and I like that sort of thing very much. And the pencils. I love pencils in my Cabernets. It’s finely-etched and classic in its Yarra Valley restraint. I reckon it’s tops.