Brash Higgins, 2018 Antonio Lamento Cabernet Franc, McLaren Vale, South Australia (Copy)
Brash Higgins is a partnership between Brad Hickey, a former sommelier, and Nicole Thorpe, McLaren Vale native and who's family have worked the vineyards in the region for many generations. They met in 2007, and Brash Higgin's first release was in 2011 with their first bottling of Nero d'Avola, a grape that has now become a signature for the winery.
I first discovered to Brad via Levi Dalton's podcast - an interview he did with Levi back in 2016. On that episode, I recall at one point in the conversation that Brad mentioned he also made a 100% Cabernet Franc, and I'm sure you could appreciate that that made my ears perk up! Thanks to my local wine shop in Coral Gables, Florida, Wolfe's Wine Shoppe, I was able to meet Brad when did an in-store tasting back in 2017. Naturally I asked Brad about his FRNC, and much to my delight, there was a small allocation of bottles on the water as part of a shipment bound for the US, and later that year I was able to purchase and try my first Brash Higgins FRNC. I was instantly smitten with the wine and it's sense of place, balance and energy, which sparked my curiosity to learn more about Brad, his passion for Cabernet Franc, and this vineyard.
It is often the case that when a winemaker chooses to work with Cabernet Franc, it is because of exposure to the great wines of the Loire that sparks their passion, and then it is just a matter finding the right vineyard or site where Cabernet Franc can shine. And this was very much the case with Brad. He first discovered this block in 2014, which was the first vintage for his FRNC, and he has since has never looked back.
So, let's get into where we are in Australia. We are in the region of McLaren Vale, which is in the Fleurieu zone, one of 7 GI zones that make up the larger South Australia region. McLaren Vale is down the southern coast of South Australia, about 30km south of the city of Adelaide. It is bordered to the east by the Mount Lofty Ranges, and to the west by the Gulf of Saint Vincent.
Now, of course, we know that Cabernet Franc represents a very small piece of the Australian wine landscape. There are only 124ha of Cabernet Franc planted in South Australia, now compared that to 27,443ha of Shiraz and 17117ha of Cabernet Sauvignon planted in the region. And in terms of McLaren Vale specifically, there are 22ha of Cabernet Franc in McLaren Vale, versus 4198ha and 1338ha of Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon respectively. So that puts McLaren Vale 3rd in terms of Cabernet Franc plantings in the region, behind Coonawarra and the Barossa Valley.
McLaren Vale's climate can be characterized as Mediterranean, with warm to hot summers, mild winters and very low rainfall. This is a fairly large region, with a lot of variability in terms of microclimates. And the major moderating factor here is wind, and there are two main sources of breezes that help moderate the climate here, we have the cool breezes that come off the Gulf of Saint Vincent, which is part of the Southern Ocean, and we also have the breezes that come down from the Mount Lofty Ranges, and your proximity to these wind sources has a huge baring of a vineyard's mesoclimate.
Generally speaking, this would be much too warm for Cabernet Franc, but there are some moderating influences at play here that make this particular site special. This vineyard is located only 6.5km from the Gulf, and we've seen from other examples that Cabernet Franc really seems to like these coastal locales. So this block benefits from receiving the cool breezes during the day, and the proximity to the gulf also helps to drop the overall vineyard temperature in the evening, which helps to offset the warmer daytime temperatures, helping to slow down ripening, and preserving acidities.
Another important aspect to this vineyard and this block of Cabernet Franc is the soil. Now the geology of McLaren Vale is very complex, and there have been a number of studies done on the soils in the region, and they've identified more than 40 distinct groups of soils. In fact, for the nerds out there, on the McLaren Vale wine region trade website, there is a fantastically detailed soil map of the region. The soil in this block is known locally as cracking black clay, which is a type of vertisol, which is a very heavy, dense, expansive clay, typically of volcanic origin. Clay is a cooler soil because of it's ability to retain moisture, and while this clay has a high water holding capacity, because of its pore size, the vines have to work very hard to access the water, and this helps to restrict vigour and yield, and creating a natural balance in the vine. And both Brad as well as viticulturalist Peter Bolte have indicated to me that this black cracking clay has a marked influence on the not only the success of Cabernet Franc in this block, but also its character.
In the vineyard block itself, there are 4 acres, that's about 1.6 hectares, of Cabernet Franc planted. It was planted in 2001, and these vines are own-rooted as well. The row orientation is north-south, and the canopy is managed to ensure there is sufficient foliage to protect the bunches on the western side of the canopy from the strong afternoon sunshine.
From a winemaking perspective, Brad is very careful with his picking decisions to ensure that Cabernet Franc retains its Cabernet Franc-ness. So he picks based on acidities and pH as opposed to sugar levels. The fruit is all hand-harvested and destemmed. The fermentation is done with indigenous yeast, in one tonne open top fermenters. Brad will do some punch downs twice daily, and the wine stays on skins about 2.5 weeks. After this, Brad will drain off the free run wine and gently press the skins, and recombine the free run and press wine. The wine ages in 8-12 year old French oak barrels for about 10 months before bottling.
Key wine facts below:
Producer: Brash Higgins
Region: South Australia, Australia
Sub-Region: McLaren Vale
Vineyards: Clos Antonio Lamento (Sommerville Vineyard)
Soil: Cracking black clay
Alcohol: 13.9%
