Sons & Brothers is a vineyard and winery owned and operated by Chris and Kathryn Bourke, it only produces one wine, a Cabernet Sauvignon dominant, bottle-aged, light to medium bodied, soft and elegant, intensely flavoured, dry red. It is grown, made, bottled, bottle-aged, packaged and despatched by us at Sons & Brothers Vineyard in the sub-region of Millthorpe, on the higher eastern plateau portion of the Orange Wine Region. The southern Burgundy-like, cool Millthorpe climate produces an expression of Cabernet which is reminiscent of a northern Medoc Bordeaux, or a bigger Burgundian Pinot Noir or an age-worthy Cru Beaujolais Gamay. The style is quite different to the commonly encountered Australian full bodied high alcohol style. The wine is fully aged prior to release, hence different to the normally early released Australian offerings. Sons & Brothers undergoes 9 years plus of bottle aging in our purpose built, temperature stable, cellar prior to sale. It is ready to drink at this stage and ideally should be consumed together with food. Our wine is made for those who appreciate the lighter bodied, lower alcohol, food friendly, red wines of France and Italy.
Wine Orders
The retail price for our wine is $50.00 per bottle. Therefore a six pack of the 2013 vintage will cost you $300.00. The minimum purchase allowed is one six pack. We will send your order freight free to any location in Australia. A very generous offer for such a unique wine. Click the button below to order. A PayPal account is not needed: direct payment with Visa and MasterCard is possible! Our liquor license number is LIQW824013390.
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Sons & Brothers 2013 (Our current release)
This is a Cabernet Sauvignon dominant wine from a warm, dry, ripe vintage. James Halliday awarded it 95 points. This is our first vintage with a Tempranillo addition, the wine is 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Savagnin/Savannah (50:50 pink and white), and 5% Tempranillo. This vintage kicked off with a dry and warm Spring, followed by a wetter warmer Summer and finally a dry and warm Autumn. The Cabernet was picked from the 6th to the 19th April, starting at 13 baume and ending at 13.6. The crop load was 3.5 tonne per hectare. The wine saw very little oak (3.2% new equivalent), all French. The Savannah was co-fermented with the Tempranillo and then both co-fermented with the Cabernet. This wine ended up with an alcohol level of 13.8%, a bit higher than we would normally aim for. It is finely structured, with a long medium bodied palate, and a lovely acid line. The pH at bottling was 3.5. This is a Cabernet of great class, every bit the aristocrat, and at twelve years of age it is as fresh as a daisy. As usual with our Cabernet, the high altitude (940 metres) has produced an outcome that is a cross between a left bank Bordeaux and a Cru Beaujolais, making this a very elegant and food friendly wine. It has an appetizing mix of earthy, tannic rasp and lean but savoury dry red fruit that makes your palate yearn for food and your mouth water in anticipation. The excitement of its flavour is more intellectual than emotional, its slightly austere edge comes with the intense irresistible beauty of ripe but dry blackcurrant and the scent of cigarbox cedar.
Reviews for Vintage 2013
James Halliday 95 points
Gary Walsh, The Wine Front 94 points, ‘so good, it was touch and go for 95’ he said.
Andrew Graham, Australian Wine Review 92 points
Cellar Door
Our cellar door is located in Orange at Ferment (The Orange Wine Centre), 87 Hill Street Orange. Ferment is open from Monday to Saturday between 11 am and 8 pm and our wine is on pour at all times. Come in and meet Chris Bourke, the Sons & Brothers wine maker, at Ferment most Saturdays.
We are also available in Orange at The Lane Cellars, (in the arcade next to Harris Farm).
Alternatively we can supply you direct by clicking the buy now button on this page.
It is against the law to sell or supply alcohol to, or to obtain alcohol on behalf of, a person under the age of 18 years.
Recent Past Vintages
Vintage conditions in 2011 and 2012 were very poor, consequently no wine was made.
Sons & Brothers 2010 (SOLD OUT)
This vintage had a remarkable generosity and just kept getting better and better with age. It had many of the characteristics of a richer Pinot Noir or a Cru Gamay. It was light to medium bodied, fragrant, flavour intense and complex. The palate was long and even with a generous finish. Sadly after 13 years it has now sold out. Those who still have a bottle or two will find that it will live on, and remain quite fresh until about 2030.
Sons & Brothers 2009 (SOLD OUT)
This savoury, food friendly wine, was light to medium in body and had a long and velvety palate with complex aromas and flavours of violets, fruits, oak, cassis, and classic Bordeaux cedar wood. The wine was delightfully peppery and spicy, with huge flavour intensity and great elegance. It just kept getting better and better as it got older. It has now sold out.
Sons & Brothers 2008 (SOLD OUT)
This wine was released as the “Cabernet of Millthorpe” to reflect our move away from the Cabernet plus Shiraz of the past, forwards to just Cabernet Sauvignon. The colour is ruby red, the aroma fabulous, a complex perfume of berries and florals and the flavour very intense, a cornucopia of cherries, berries, plums, blackcurrant, pepper, spices and cedarwood. This is an elegant wine of great intensity and length, the palate weight is a real surprise just light to medium but what beautiful silky texture, and the finish, delightfully warm, soft and ripe. This wine is very reminiscent of a red Burgundy of old fashioned richness, making it a unique expression of Cabernet. It is still drinking very well and will continue to gain complexity with time. This bottle-aged beauty was great value for money, but it has now sold out.
Sons & Brothers 2007 (SOLD OUT)
The vines yielded very poorly in this unusually hot, dry season, little wine was made, the quality was excellent, James Halliday gave it a score of 93, it was listed in the top 100 wines of NSW in 2010. It has now sold out.
Sons & Brothers 2006 (SOLD OUT)
This vintage did not happen, a hail storm destroyed the crop in mid-summer.
Sons & Brothers 2005 (SOLD OUT)
This vintage just got better and better with bottle age, James Halliday gave it a score of 94 and described it as follows, “remarkable hue and depth, the flavours of blackberry, blackcurrant and plum are very well balanced by fine tannins and the memory of oak, given its age and quality, an exceptional bargain”. It has now sold out but those who kept some up their sleeve are still finding it great drinking.