De Bortoli’s 96-point Melba Amphora Cabernet Sauvignon is being released this May

For many decades, De Bortoli in the Yarra Valley has set its sights on producing more than just your usual bottles of wine – most recently, experimenting with clay pots (amphora) to ferment Yarra Valley cabernet.

This started in 2019, and has ultimately culminated in the most recent release – De Bortoli’s 96-point 2022 Melba Amphora Cabernet Sauvignon – which is being released this month. 

The fruit for this particular wine comes from the Melba corner of the De Bortoli property, which has formed the backbone of its premium cabernet programs for over 40 years. These are then hand-picked, destemmed, hand-plunged and macerated for extended periods before being aged in large clay vessels.

This blending of traditional and modern winemaking techniques helps make the De Bortoli Melba Amphora Cabernet Sauvignon a really distinctive wine.

Chief winemaker and manager Steve Webber shared: “The long maceration, times on skins and the porous nature of the clay amphora produces quite ethereal style cabernet. Lighter initially, but a very stable colour and fine tannin and with a bright ageing future.”

Steve also believes that through the use of amphorae you can more deeply express the pure character of the vineyard, while also gaining new textures and flavours from the clay itself.

He went on to say, “Wines fermented and matured in different mediums are always quite exciting and different to me. I love the texture and feel of the wines out of clay. They do have some flavours from the earthenware; subtle but quite cool.”

And speaking to food pairings for this particular wine, Steve commented, “Wines that spend a lot of time on skins after fermentation (in this case four to five months), are often softer and more approachable; younger. My feeling is it is the perfect pair with dry-aged ribeye. Just rip the cork out and pour it into a large goblet!”

Read on to find Philip Rich’s review of the 2022 De Bortoli Melba Amphora Cabernet Sauvignon.

Philip Rich’s tasting note

Fermented on skins in a 1000L clay amphora for 130 days, pressed then returned to amphora for a similar maturation time. A gorgeous, bright ruby red. Scents of black cherries, satsuma plums, crushed violets and briary notes. An elegant and complex medium-bodied wine that flows evenly across the palate and, while the wine's suave tannin structure means it can be approached now, I'd love to see how it evolves over the next five to 10 years. – Philip Rich, 96 points

RRP $80 | Drink to 2032 | debortoli.com.au | Shop this wine