This is another one of d’Arenberg’s wines named after the road which runs down by the side of that particular vineyard. We source from this vineyard a good proportion of our best Cabernet, which goes into this classic McLaren Vale red. Over the past 50 years, d’Arenberg has released its High Trellis Cabernet to consistent acclaim. In the 1990’s we vinified a separately a parcel of Cabernet from the best fruit from the Coppermine Road vineyard and the rest of the Osborn vineyards. The best parcels of wine that make up the Coppermine Road Cabernet mostly come from a rare and nearly extinct extremely low-yielding clone which is characterized by its violet and anise perfume, concentration and great acidity. The Coppermine Road is vinified, as are all d’Arenberg reds, through the gentle Demoisy crusher, then headed down open fermentation, followed by basket pressing by the ‘Coq’ and ‘Bromley and Tregoning’ 19th century presses into predominantly new and first use French oak barriques for 22 months maturation before blending and bottling at d’Arenberg. We use the age-old process of foot –treading, which means the cap of skins on the fermenting juice are broken down by (wader-clad) feet to ensure the maximum flavour and colour from the skins is extracted. The Coppermine Road Cabernet will most definitely benefit from a good stay in the bottle, and may very well throw a harmless deposit as fining and filtration have been kept to a minimum.
