Dandelion Vineyards Pride of the Fleurieu Cabernet Sauvignon 2023
£12.75
The wine
This Cabernet Sauvignon has a dark purple colour with bright violet edges. On the nose, it has aromas of blueberry, blackberry, raspberry and cassis, with hints of menthol and fennel. The palate is rich, deep and intensely flavoured with blueberry and blackberry. It has round, powdery Cabernet tannins that are softened by smooth, mouth-filling fruit before an extended finish.
Selected bunches were hand picked by family and friends, gently crushed into open-top stainless steel, then basket pressed into French oak hogsheads of 300 litres, nine tenths of them older, for eighteen months before bottling without fining or filtration. Dandelion is the venture of winemaker Elena Brooks and her husband Zar, drawing on the Barossa and Eden Valleys, the Fleurieu, the Adelaide Hills and McLaren Vale. Elena grew up in Bulgaria, much of her childhood spent in a winery where her mother worked.
The producer
Dandelion Vineyards
View all Dandelion Vineyards winesDandelion Vineyards is a celebrated South Australian producer drawing on some of the state's oldest and most treasured vineyards, across the Barossa, Eden Valley and McLaren Vale. Founded by winemaker Elena Brooks and her husband Zar, it champions old vines and evocative, storybook labels. Character defines everything it makes.
The estate works with prized parcels of ancient Shiraz, Grenache and Riesling, some over a century old. These deep-rooted vines, grown across South Australia's warm valleys and cooler hills, yield fruit of remarkable concentration and perfume. Each vineyard tells its own story.
In the cellar, minimal-intervention winemaking lets the old-vine fruit speak. The Shirazes are rich yet fragrant, the Rieslings pure and racy, always with a sense of place. Balance and personality run through the range.
From the everyday Lionheart Shiraz to the rare old-vine Red Queen, Dandelion offers South Australia at its most charming. Vivid, generous and beautifully made, these are wines with a story in every bottle.
