Hancock and Hancock Cabernet Sauvignon / Touriga Nacional, McLaren Vale

Description

Hancock and Hancock Cabernet Sauvignon / Touriga Nacional is a rather interesting wine blend from the McLaren Vale consisting mainly Cabernet Sauvignon with Touriga Nacional. The blend is normally around 90% Cabernet Sauvignon.

Hancock and Hancock wines is part of Robert Oatley Vineyards. Robert Oatley vineyards was created by Australian wine legend, the late, Bob Oatley in 2006, and was most famous for founding Rosemount Estate. Bob’s son Sandy Oatley took over the running of the business following his father’s death in January 2016. Chris Hancock has been making wine with Bob Oatley since 1976 and is the also the Deputy Executive Chairman. He also worked at Penfolds under Max Schubert and eventually was responsible for making 5 of the early vintages of Penfolds Grange.

Hancock and Hancock is a new venture Chris founded with his brother John in 2015 and is based at their La Colline vineyard in McLaren Vale. The vines are old, some of them are more than 80 year old, and they are planted on South East facing slopes, protected from strong winds and facing the gentle moving sun. The idea is to make wines that are ready for drinking at release but offer slightly more interesting drinking than a straight Shiraz or Cabernet.

Hancock and Hancock Cabernet Sauvignon / Touriga Nacional is actually a blend of 90% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Touriga Nacional. The individual grape parcels are vinified separately in a combination of open and closed fermenters with regular pumping over and plunging during fermentation. The wine is allowed to undergo malolactic fermentation and is then aged in a mixture of barrique, hogshead and large format French oak barrels. Finally the parcels are blended to create the final assemblage.