2020 PIERRO L.T.C.f
Pierro L.T.Cf.
Cabernet Sauvignon & Merlot
Little Touch of Cabernet Franc
Vineyard
Grown in one of the best Margaret River vintages in a generation. Parcels of fruit are hand-picked from several blocks from the Pierro estates. The oldest vines were planted in 1988 with the youngest planted in 1998. All vines are mature, low yielding and are grown in the gravelly loam granite soils prevalent in the Willyabrup Valley. Unlike other vineyards in the region, the Pierro vineyard has high density plantings. This leads to a lower quantity of higher quality, balanced fruit on each vine rich in concentration and flavour. All vineyard parcels are situated within 3km of the coast and are influenced by the maritime climate and fresh, pure ocean sea breezes prevalant during the growing season.
Winemaking
The fruit for this wine is hand-picked over a 14 day period in late March. All grapes are chilled then both bunch and berry sorted by hand. What remains is a black caviar appearence to the resulting berries. These whole berries are placed into small open fermenters and plunged by hand three times per day. The wine is left with skins for an average of 20 days before pressing and maturation in 10% new, 1,2 and 3 year old French barriques for 11-12 months. Each year the blend changes slightly depending on the vintage and the yield. But every year the aim is to create a wine that is delicious when young, complex but also elegant, smooth and easy drinking.
Varietal content
Cabernet Sauvignon - for structure, length and tannin, 58%
Merlot - smooths the wine, provides softness and depth 28%
Cabernet Franc- gives aromatic complexity to the blend 8%
Malbec 4%
Petit Verdot 2%
Tasting Notes
Smooth, silky soft and attractive. An easy drinking medium bodied red wine with elegant flavours of blackberry, cassis mulberry & plum. Best served with red meat dishes such as lamb and duck or alternatively rich pasta dishes with good friends.
Favoured Listening
Mozart Piano Concerto No.21 in C
Romantic, pensive, a delicate tone with some subtle weight beneath it.
2020 Pierro L.T.C.f
The 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot L.T.Cf. hails from a warm but generally excellent vintage in Margaret River. On the nose are sun-ripened cranberries, pink peppercorns, bay leaf and tapenade, cracked fennel seeds and strawberries. In the mouth, the wine is creamy-it has a clotted cream character alongside the fruit, which I find to be an unexpected sensation. There is pomegranate molasses, pressed violets and bramble, with rhubarb, arnica and a firmness to the tannins through the finish.
Erin Larkin- The Wine Advocate
2019 Pierro L.T.C.f
Ethereal, lighter framed and a lovely drink. Full of raspberry leaves, just-ripe blackberries, pops of spice and the distinct Margaret River fragrance - it's a native bush character and very pleasing. Lithe tannins and a gentleness across the palate make this ready to enjoy now. Screw cap. 14% alc.
95/100 - Jane Faulkner - Halliday Wine Companion
2019 Pierro L.T.C.f
The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot L. T.Cf. is medium bodied and distinctly silky, but this is what we have come to expect from this cuvée. There is tobacco leaf, bay leaf, raspberry bramble, cassis, saltbush, a lick of licorice and layers of dried exotic spice. It's elegant, moving to ethereal, a rare descriptor for Cabernet Sauvignon. It has a "slick" sheen to the tannins, glossy. I'm always reminded of that when I taste it.
93+/100 - Erin Larkin - Robert Parker Wine Advocate
2019 Pierro L.T.C.f
"Medium ruby with plum fruit, dusty earth, and tomatoe leaf aromatics. Medium bodied with a very appealing open knit to its texture. Soft and supple tannins wrap around red and blue fruits with hints of leafy herbs and earth spices adding character. Good lenght and it finishes with a softness that brings you back for more."
92/100 - Stuart Knox - The Real Review
2019 Pierro L.T.C.f
Classic claret style and so wonderful to drink. It's redcurrant and fresh raspberry, a little baking spice and tomato powder, aniseed and floral perfume. Medium-bodied at most, so fresh and precise, brightly lit and shapely, a gentle feathering of tannin, and a long fresh finish. Delightful. A Cabernet you can drink now (with gusto) or later. I love it.
94 Points - Gary Walsh -The Wine Front-
Not the opulence of the 2018, but instead a wine of purity and elegance with a long refined palate. Nice combination of meaty blackcurrant on the nose. The Cabernet Franc brings a lift of fragrant violet and red berry. The palate is medium bodied with a fine chalky tannin and a sliver of oak in support. A stylish wine of great poise.
93/100 Ray Jordan, WA Wine Review 2024
2018 Pierro L.T.C.f
"One of the best yet under this quirky label. In case you're wondering the lower case "f" is the light touch of Cabernet Franc that is added to give that lifted floral scent. It's a serious wine with a firm spine of fine bony tannins and fine- grained oak. Leafy graphite thread cuts through the elegant medium weight fruit flesh."
95/100 - Ray Jordan - WA Wine Review
2018 Pierro L.T.Cf
“All things on paper here speak of restraint: the responsibly weighted glass, low percentage of new oak, time in oak, a balance of varieties ... and in the mouth all is confirmed. This is elegant and layered flavour in every part of the mouth. It creeps up on you, and lingers long after it has gone. This is a wonderful wine, and evidence that restraint was possible in the wonderful 2018 vintage. Superb.”
Erin Larkin -Hallidays Wine Companion-