Berton Vineyard The Bonsai High Eden, 2018

The Bonsai vineyard was planted by hand by Bob and Cherie in a remote spot up in the High Eden in 1997. So named because at the time of planting there was no access to water for irrigation; hence, the vines struggled to survive and to establish themselves and looked like dwarf plants. 2018 The Bonsai is a rich concentrated wine with dark, ripe fruit aromas of blueberries and blackcurrants complemented by a pencil-lead edge. It is medium bodied with succulent fruit flavours mid-palate, a grainy texture with emerging flavours of savoury mint, vanilla and blackcurrant. A drought year, the dam almost but not quite dry, grapes were picked on April 11, a few weeks earlier than usual but with a much smaller crop. It was matured in a combination of new and old French and American oak barrels.