Josh Cooper Dash Farms Cabernet Sauvignon 2025
The 2025 growing season delivered another outstanding vintage in our region. A warm, settled spring and summer were balanced by cool evenings and an extended ripening period, allowing the fruit to reach full physiological maturity without excessive sugar accumulation. Consistently dry conditions throughout the season meant disease pressure was virtually non-existent, resulting in pristine fruit arriving at the winery.
Planted 1999, Dash Farms sits perched at over 450m ASL on the Southern granitic slopes of Mt. Alexander (Leanganook) looking back towards Mt Macedon and the Macedon Ranges. Like Ray- Monde, it sits just outside the Macedon Ranges GI. An extremely late ripening site for Cabernet Sauvignon, the fruit was harvested in late April.
Hand-harvested with strict fruit sorting in the vineyard, bunches were then 100% de-stemmed and partially foot crushed before loading into open fermenters where they remained for three weeks. The must was allowed to soak until natural fermentation commenced and then extracted with a combination of pumping over, delestage and pigeage before basket pressing. Elevage took place in a combination of new Stockinger 300L (20%) and seasoned thin staved Bordeaux coopered barriques for 12 months, before four months in stainless steel after assemblage. The mountainside nature of Dash Farm provides incredible freshness to the wine.
Lamb Chops with mint salsa verde or Mushroom Risotto.
This vintage shows incredibly depth and vibrancy, with lavender, pen ink, violet and creamy cassis fruit filling the nose and a savoury, wild herb and graphite complexity in the background.
Medium to full bodied, but fully flavoured and packed with fine fruit tannin, with just a seasoning of oak. Again, creamy cassis, red cherry and raspberry flood the mouth, with graphite and subtle crushed ivy lend intrigue, finishing powdery and dry.
