CASCABEL

McLaren Vale,  Australia

A Cascabel is a small bell used in Spanish celebrations and is synonymous with festivity, liveliness and charm.
Cascabel Winery is situated 45km south of Adelaide, at the base of the Sellicks Hill Range near Willunga, on the Fleurieu Peninsula. This area has a warm, dry climate with windy conditions that reduces vine vigor and subsequent yields. The soil is a deep well drained stony loam of low fertility ideal for grape growing without irrigation.
Duncan Ferguson and Susana Fernandez are both very qualified winemakers and have extensive winemaking experience in Australia, Spain, France, Italy, Germany and New Zealand. This not only gives them a thorough grounding in many different styles but also an interest in producing wines in Australia with a complexity and finesse beyond simple combinations of fruit and oak. They are keen to explore the possibilities of medium-full bodied red blends of the style of the Rhone in France and the Rioja in Spain.

A 2 Ha. portion of their vineyard was established on the property in 1997 and planted to the varieties Tempranillo, Graciano, Mataro, Grenache, and Shiraz. These were considered most suitable for this area. Another 2 Ha. were planted in 1999 with the varieties Tempranillo and Graciano and more planting followed to complete 6 Ha. This enables them to produce a blend in the style of the Rioja wines from Spain. More Viognier and Roussanne will provide a future addition to our white wine production. This vineyard should supply around 70% of production, with the shortfall (particularly in the case of Riesling) made up with grapes from selected growers. This will provide access to mature vineyards with traditional grape growing. All grapes are hand picked.

The winery was set up at the end of 1997 in an existing building on the property. It is fully equipped and designed to comfortably handle about 60 tonnes of grapes each vintage. The aim is to carry out all winemaking by themselves on the premises, from crushing the grapes to bottling. At this level of production, the care and individual attention to each wine can be maintained.
Small open fermenters are used for all red wines in their winery, gentle plunging of the cap of skins during fermentation, warm ferments, whole bunches, stalks, wild ferments, extended maceration and many other options are all used to some extent in all of their wines. They are trying to achieve a complexity in their wines, not merely by blending different barrels together but inherent in all wines, a single barrel can be very complex! They are using French oak in their wines and mostly older barrels at that. Acid and tannin in the wines also tend to be less pronounced than in many other Australian examples. Addition of these substances in commercial powder form, along with oak chips has reached epidemic proportions in many Australian wineries. Cascabel is trying to produce wines with no obvious hooks and handles.

Their wines are bottled on the premises with their own equipment. This area is neglected by most wineries (given over to contractors), to Cascabel's owners' bemusement, as it is one of the most crucial steps in the winemaking process. This is perhaps not that amusing when considering that most new "boutique" wineries do none of the winemaking process at all, this also being left to contract wineries. Duncan and Susana consider that their ability to do everything in house and to keep full control over the quality of their wines as their main strength.

See Cascabel wines we sell

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