1999 MadFish Premium Red Tasting Notes

MadFish Red is a blended wine using the noble grape varieties Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Shiraz. The wine is designed to demonstrate the flavours of those varieties melded into a complete, even palate that is soft and generous with no harsh characters from fruit tannin or from oak wood. The wine should be immediately approachable but be able to develop in the medium term. Late March and April of 1999 saw good weather in the South-West of Western Australia with ample sunshine hours allowing full fruit flavour development. The fruit was harvested at full flavour ripeness and fermented in stainless steel open fermenters with twice daily pumpovers to develop colour and flavour. The use of aeration in the fermentation process aided the development of the tannins in the wine to ensure that there was no harshness or bitterness. The wine was matured in 2nd and 3rd use French oak barrels for approximately 10 months allowing barrel maturation without the extraction of excessive oaky flavours.

The 1999 MadFish Red has a lovely plum red colour with a dense heart. The nose is highly perfumed with attractive, fresh aromas of sweet berries and cherries. There is an underlying oak presence that is difficult to detect. The palate is rich and generous with full, sweet berry and plum fruit flavours and a full, fleshy mid palate. The palate has a full, fleshy middle and a long extended flavour profile. The finish has tannin structure without excessive astringency.

The wine is ready for drinking now although some limited aging (2 – 5 years) will see the fruit characters fill out then be replaced by secondary aging characters that will give the wine greater complexity.