The 2024 vintage was not a thing. This wine, however, is. Coastal vineyards are a thing, especially when the other thing is the hottest season ever. This is where my confusion lies: in seasons when you can wait and pause and assess the grapes for perfect tannin ripeness, that’s when you know you have something special going on. Not too hot, not too cold, it was the Goldilocks of seasons where everything was just right. In this instance, from what I see as the best part of the Sheoak vineyard slope, we have made an effortless wine with the finest of tannin structures.


We started picking Sheoak Cabernet on 7th April, pretty much the same date as 2023, which is also weird. It’s darkly coloured, though wonderfully fine and ethereal from the outset. The wine spent 14 days on skins with a peak fermentation temperature of around 26°C. The wine was then pressed to tank and settled briefly before being transferred to a combination of new (25%), two- and three-year-old barrels to undergo malolactic fermentation. The wine was racked only once during this time and, after 16 months in oak, was emptied from barrel. Only the best barrels were selected for this final blend. The wines were then settled, clarified and bottled.

The Sheoak vineyard makes expressive, medium-bodied, silky-structured wines. This, for me, is the perfect incarnation, Dark fruit flavours and high notes of cassis and warm spice frame this fine and completely poised vintage of the Nocturne SV. While it’s remarkably accessible on release, this wine would love 5 to 8 years of further maturation, which will really make this amazing wine shine.