Stonegaze Vineyard 2016 Isabella Cabernet Blend

I have a little taste of something special for you today. If you haven’t yet met Isabella from Stonegaze Vineyard in Margaret River (Yallingup), you may want to schedule in some time to get to know her.

Previously known at Stonegate, Stonegaze underwent a rebrand recently. I was lucky enough to receive this sample while on my recent trip to Perth (thank you!!). And I wanted to keep the bottle for a weekend that I could sit back and really soak up this wine.

In fact, we pulled out the decanter and let this Cabernet blend sit in the decanter for an hour before we indulged.

Isabella (named after one the owners granddaughters) is a single vineyard Bordeaux blend. It is made up of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Malbec, 10% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot. The wine was naturally fermented on skins for 12 weeks and aged in seasoned French barriques for 12 months prior to being bottled. The winemaking is done by contract winemaker, Josephine Perry of Dormilona Wines.

Firstly before I get stuck into our notes, I also want to mention that I really like the wax seal on this bottle and having an excuse to pull out the corkscrew to pop the cork. What can I say, I like a bit of old-school wine-ing 😉

Along these lines I also love the deep punt (the indent in the bottom of the bottle).

Here are our notes:

In the glass it’s a delicious looking mulberry shade. On the nose it’s big, rich and decadent. There’s black cherries, sweet vanillin oak and a hint of dark chocolate coming through for me. While in the mouth it has a nearly creamy vanilla infused texture with super elegant tannins. Black and blue berries, violets and a very slight hint of mint come through for me. It’s super well balanced with everything in harmony.

This wine was gifted to me from the winery as a sample. I was under no obligation to post about it.

All opinions are based on my own taste buds. Wine is subjective & always evolving, so make sure you drink what you enjoy.