2013 Cloudburst, Malbec, Margaret River, Australia

2013 Cloudburst, Malbec, Margaret River, Australia

Product: 20138201548
 
2013 Cloudburst, Malbec, Margaret River, Australia

Buying options

Available by the case In Bond. Pricing excludes duty and VAT, which must be paid separately before delivery. Storage charges apply.
You can place a bid for this wine on BBX

wine at a glance

Delivery and quality guarantee

About this WINE

Cloudburst

Cloudburst

Ultra-low intervention is the philosophy at Cloudburst winery. Located in Australia’s Margaret River region, the wines produced here are a far cry from the “fruit bomb” styles you might expect in this corner of the world. This lush, green region sees plenty of rain and cool breezes from nearby oceans, resulting in wines that have an authentic elegance to them, with wonderfully fresh fruit profiles.

Owner, founder, and winemaker Will Berliner sticks religiously to low-intervention methods with an almost fanatical devotion, believing that this is the best way for his wines to express terroir without compromise. Organic and biodynamic practices are followed here. The team uses homoeopathic preparations such as fish and seaweed emulsions, biodynamic composts, rock dusts, and mulches.

Will considers his whole farm a living, integrated system, with its foundation in these soils. His background in plant biology has influenced this view; he believes this is the best way to encourage the land to shine through in the Cloudburst wines – a triumph.

The Chardonnay is a purist’s dream: only 3,200 bottles are made a year, and flavours of ripe fruit, toast, dried lemon peel, and salted butter explode on the palate. His Cabernet Sauvignon is almost Burgundian in style: fairly powerful but with an elegance that will take you by surprise.

Find out more
Margaret River

Margaret River

Located on the most south-westerly point of Australia, three hours’ drive south of Perth, the Margaret River region sprang to life during the 1960s and 1970s as a result of Professor Harold Olmo’s and Dr John Gladstone’s research into the region’s viticultural potential. Consequently Vasse Felix was planted in 1967, Moss Wood in 1970 and Cullen in 1971. Since then the plantings have grown exponentially, while the number of wineries has increased six-fold. This explosion of wineries has perhaps been to the detriment of the wine quality.

Bounded to the west by the Indian Ocean and the 90km Cape Naturaliste to Cape Leeuwin promontory, the region enjoys a benign if damp maritime climate in which the vines rarely shut down, causing disrupted flowering (exacerbated by strong, westerly sea winds). Over the growing season it’s 16 percent hotter than in Coonawarra and 7% than the Médoc.

The Cape ridge is made up of lateritic clay topsoils over weathered granite and gneiss, giving fruit with a relatively high pH. Cabernet Sauvignon is the most fancied variety,producing a lush, early drinking style, followed by Shiraz, Chardonnay and Sémillon.

Recommended Producers: Cullen, McHenry Hohnen Vintners, Moss Wood, Cape Mentelle and Voyager Estate.

Find out more
Malbec

Malbec

Known as Auxerrois in Cahors, Cot in the Loire and Malbeck in Argentina, this grape has undergone a mini renaissance in the last decade, largely fuelled by its success in South America. It used to be a staple component of the Bordeaux Blend, but it never recovered fully from the 1956 frosts and its plantings there have fallen by 75% as growers have replaced it with more fashionable, and crucially, more durable grapes.

It is still grown successfully in South West France where its most famous wine is Cahors. This wine used to be black as coal and tough as leather but improvements in viticultural and vinification techniques have led to riper, softer, more approachable wines that are now amongst the best of the region.

In Argentina it is widely grown and produces deep coloured wines with generous black fruit characteristics, balanced acidity and smooth tannins. It is either bottled on its own or as part of a Bordeaux blend. In Chile  it is the 3rd most widely planted grape after Pais and Cabernet Sauvignon and tends to produce firmer, more tannic wines than its Argentinian neighbours. In Chile it is often blended with Merlot and Petit Verdot.

Find out more