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The Wines Coates Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot Malbec 2008 Rarely does Cabernet excite me as a soloist. The most exciting Cabernet wines to my palate are blends including Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot. I have been working with good Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Malbec; time to let them play together. Price – $35 Production – 220 cases made. Alcohol – 14.0% Winemaking – Langhorne Creek Cabernet Sauvignon (11%), Merlot from the Adelaide Hills (11%) and Malbec from Robe (11%). Ferment time of two to three weeks on skins with a mix of wild and cultured yeast strains. Partial whole berry inclusion with the Malbec to give some carbonic lift to the nose. Maturation with 20% new oak (Nadalie Marsannay, Francois Freres) with the balance 1-3 year old French oak barriques (Dargaud & Jaegle, Seguin-Moreau, APJ coopered) for 24 months. Bottled in July 2010 unfined and unfiltered.