"Winemaker Doug Bowen says, “Hand pruning restricts crop size to about 2 tonnes/acre which results in full bodied wines with greater depth of colour and longevity”. The Estate fruit is picked at optimum ripeness and when the tannins are “so hard they can break your teeth”. After 6 days of vinification in vinimatics a quarter of the wine is transferred into new French oak barriques to complete fermentation. This is followed by 20-22 months maturation in new 30% and used French oak. Emma Bowen – second generation family winemaker with a strong sense of destiny – believes that 90% of the character is “preset in the vineyard”. Bowen Estate Cabernet Sauvignon has pure blackcurrant pastille fruit, underlying vanillin oak and fine grainy tannins."Andrew Caillard MW