CMS Cabernet Sauvignon 2021

Black cherry, chocolate, peppercorn, dried thyme, cassis, black tea, vanilla and a touch of cedar on the nose. It's both rich and smooth on the palate, with flavours of blackberry, chewy milk chocolate, toasted walnut, vanilla spice, cassis and leather.

Excellent with beef, game, lamb, pasta with tomato sauce, pork, and vegetarian dishes.

Best served at 15 – 18°C.

Sarah Hedges Goedhart, daughter of Tom and Anne-Marie Hedges, the founders of Hedges Family Estate didn't envision a career in winemaking. Despite spending school breaks in the family vineyards, she initially found the labor-intensive and tedious aspects of winemaking unappealing. She aspired to be a veterinarian. However, her journey took an unexpected turn when her boyfriend (now husband) convinced her to try making wine in their apartment. Fascinated by the fermentation process, she was drawn back to her winemaking roots. After gaining experience in Sonoma, Goedhart returned to Hedges Family Estate as an assistant winemaker in 2006. Today, as head winemaker, she finds joy in crafting wines that tell stories about her family, the land, and the connections fostered through the joy and curiosity that wine brings. She believes in making wines with depth and subtlety, focusing on sense of place and compatibility with food, rather than simply aiming for high scores.

The Hedges Family Estate established in 1989 and situated in the heart of the Red Mountain in Washington State. The unique geography of Red Mountain speaks volumes… The language of this distinct land translates to viticulture with the same character and complexity of the grapes themselves. The story of Red Mountain began about eighteen thousand years ago, when severe weather patterns swept the slopes of eastern Washington. The fertile soil deposits left behind by receding glacial floods set the stage for the debut of Red Mountain’s leading characters… small, concentrated grapes with layered, complex personalities. These berries thrive in a contrast of climates, producing scene-stealing wines with an identifiable style of power, length, and structure.

• Vegan - Practising (Uncertified)

• Organic - Independently Certified

• Biodynamic - Independently Certified

3* (Pioneer)

These guys are serious about farming their land with consideration and respect for the planet. They don’t believe that being merely "organic" is a high enough bar in the USA due to the local rules which allow the use of more interventions than they think are necessary. So they have set the bar higher, and farm using biodynamic methods, with Demeter certification. Rather than resorting to chemical solutions, Hedges uses nature. For example, roaming chickens are deployed to control the predatory cutworm population. Planting, pruning and harvesting is done by hand, cultivating a connection to the crop. No commercial yeast is added to the wine during fermentation, resulting in a wine that expresses the terroir it came from.

A strong focus for the family is climate change, which was referenced many times during our visit. They are actively engaged in mitigation and on adaptation, and are experimenting with planting grapes which are native to hotter, more southerly environments (Portugal), to future proof the business. Although it has a similar latitude to the Loire, Red Mountain has very low precipitation – this is mountain desert land. Some modest irrigation is thus essential for vine health, which is carried out within strict water allocations from the local Columbia river. This also has the advantage of allowing them to optimise the growth of their grapevines.

Red | Still | 75cl | 14.5% ABV