Frankland Estate Olmo's Reward Cabernet Blend 2021
Frankland Estate Olmo's Reward Cabernet Blend 2021

Frankland Estate Olmo's Reward Cabernet Blend 2021

94 pts
Frankland Estate | Western Australia | Cabernet Blend
Price:
$90.00
The 2021 Frankland Estate Olmo’s Reward is a premier, organic, Cabernet Franc-dominant Bordeaux blend (approx. 90% Cabernet Franc) from Frankland River, Western Australia. Known as “Bordeaux from the Bush,” it features red fruit, earthy, savory notes of sage and tea tree, with fine gravelly tannins and a 14.5% alc/vol, balancing power with elegance.
  • Aroma: Lifted, complex nose with notes of black fruit, bay leaf, cedar, tobacco leaf, and dried herbs.
  • Palate: Medium-bodied yet concentrated, displaying red fruits, smoky earthiness, spices, and a distinctive savoury, ironstone character.
  • Structure: Known for its “fine chalky tannins” and high-quality, “textural” structure that frames the ripe fruit, often described as having a long, savory finish.
  • Blend Composition: Predominantly Cabernet Franc, often with small, varied percentages of Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec (sometimes Mourvèdre).
  • Winemaking: Organic, with grapes fermented and aged to create a “serious,” “long-lived” wine.
  • Ageing Potential: While accessible now, the 2021 is designed to be cellared for 10–15 years, with some critics suggesting its peak starts around 2026.

     

    This wine is a tribute to Dr. Harold Olmo, who identified the region’s potential, and it is regarded as one of Australia’s top Cabernet Franc-based wines.

    A complex and distinguished wine of its own kind. Lifted fresh black and red berries interlaced with hints of cedar, fresh Italian herbs, brambles, cocoa, black baccara rose petals, nougat, bell pepper; alluring mouth-watering aromas. The palate is soft and luscious, and it bursts into blue fruits across the palate supported by mouth-coating textural tannins that add structure and complexity. There are subtle nuances of bay leaf,spice, liquorice, and savoury elements. IIt's beautifully layered and complex. Well balanced acidity draws this complexity of flavours across the palate for a long, seamless finish of poise and power.

    2021 VINTAGE

    The 2021 harvest will be remembered for the perfect spring conditions leading into the ripening period. With the return to a “normal” picking date (starting on the 19th March for whites), we harvested some excellent grapes and thankfully some generous cropping levels after two very small vintages in 2019 and 2020.

    VINEYARD

    All varieties used in the blend were dry-grown on mature vines in the Isolation Ridge Vineyard at Frankland Estate. The vineyard sits on an undulating northern and eastern facing slope on ancient duplex soils of gravel and loam over a clay sub-soil. It is farmed using organic viticultural practices (certified organic in 2009) and this is reflected in the depth and concentration of fruit flavours. Cabernet Franc is the hero of this blend from our 1988 plantings with supporting roles from some of our best vineyard parcels of other red varieties.

    VINIFICATION

    Each variety was fermented separately as slowly as possible at temperatures not exceeding 27°C. Open fermentation tanks facilitated working the cap with gentle plunging taking care to minimise tannin extraction. After fermentation, an extended maceration period allowed desired flavour and tannin resolution. The component wines were blended on completion of the malolactic fermentation and then aged in 500L French Oak puncheons for 15 months.

    Cabernet Franc 90%, Cabernet Sauvignon 8%, Malbec 2%

    Halliday Wine Companion - 96 points

    Cabernet franc is at the heart of Olmo’s Reward with glugs of cabernet sauvignon and for the first time mourvèdre and a splash of malbec. This is up there as one of the finest to date. A seamless combination of the varieties morphs into a unified, harmonious red. Supple, fine tannins yet intrinsically powerful in a way, as they coat the fuller-bodied palate, but this never feels big or weighty. The finish is as long as it is beautiful.


    Ray Jordan

    Opens with a delightful fragrance of red berry, violet and subtle dried herbs. It’s so immediately complex and engaging. The palate is bright and brilliant delivering on a medium bodied elegant stylish palate but with so much poise and power. This was a very good year around the State ad this is one of the better wines. In fact it is as good as any Olmo’s I have tasted. The finish has a slightly chalky iron stone character that completes an outstanding wine.

    Frankland Estate

    Frankland Estate is a prestigious, family-owned boutique winery in Western Australia’s remote Frankland River region, established in 1988 by Barrie Smith and Judi Cullam. Renowned for organic-certified, cool-climate wines—particularly Riesling and Shiraz from their Isolation Ridge vineyard—the estate focuses on sustainability and expressing unique, ironstone-gravel terroir.

    View all Frankland Estate wines
    Frankland Estate

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