Brash Higgins Omensetter 2018

Having cut his teeth as a Sommelier in New York’s finest restaurants, Brash Higgins winemaker Brad Hickey fell in love with McLaren Vale in 2007 and has been making some of the region’s most exciting, expressive wines ever since.

Brash Higgins’ 2018 Omensetter is made from fruit grown at the organic Omensetter estate vineyard. The site owes its name to the eponymous hero of the William H. Gass novel “Omensetter’s Luck”. Ever since Brash Higgins’ founder Brad Hickey first laid eyes on the site in 2007, he has dreamed of capturing its promise of goodness in a select blend of grapes. The vineyard was planted in 1997 by Brad’s partner, Nicole Thorpe, and as of 2017 is fully certified organic.

85% Shiraz and 15% Cabernet, 2018 Omensetter was aged over two years in two new 500L French Ermitage puncheons, before being allowed to mellow in bottle. The tradition of extended barrel ageing represents a stylistic tangent from the progressive wines for which Brash Higgins has become renowned, but imposed itself as the only approach for this grand, time-honoured Australian style of wine. 

On tasting the distinctive blood orange and dark fruited flavour profile of the shiraz together with the minty, black tea and concentrated cassis notes of the cabernet sauvignon make perfect sense and taste sensational. Think notes of earthy meats, charcoal embers, cloves, dark blackberries, orange peel and a brooding intensity, yet still youthful and energetic. Drink now or cellar for 5 to 10 years. - Brad Hickey, Vinitor, September 1, 2021

The Finer Details
Style - Red Wine
Varietal - 85% Shiraz, 15% Cabernet
Country - Australia
Region - McLaren Vale, South Australia
Vintage - 2018
Bottle Size - 750ml
ABV - 14.5%