Frankland Estate spotlight
Meet the family behind Frankland Estate and see the remote Isolation Ridge landscape that gives Olmo’s Reward its red-fruited energy, ironstone character, and quiet authority.
A 95-Point Cabernet Franc Flagship for $29
Olmo’s Reward is elegant, mineral, organically farmed, and built far beyond its price.
This exact 2018 vintage is a Cabernet Franc-led blend from mature, dry-grown Isolation Ridge vines. Red cherry, mulberry, cassis, graphite, cedar, tobacco leaf, and fine tannins move through a fresh, energetic frame. At $29—$31 below the supplied Wine-Searcher average and $66 below the live $95 estate reference—it is a serious flagship wine priced for opening, sharing, and following.
69% below the estate reference
Four reasons Olmo’s Reward stands apart
The score opens the door. The vineyard, blend, vintage, and measured cellar work explain why this wine belongs among Australia’s most distinctive Bordeaux-inspired reds.
Cabernet Franc gets the lead role
At 57% of the blend, Cabernet Franc drives the vivid red fruit, herbal lift, graphite, and energetic mineral line.
2018 is a benchmark season
The estate calls 2018 one of the region’s best vintages in more than a decade, balancing healthy yields with a dry, mild-to-warm finish.
The vineyard stays visible
Ancient gravel and loam over clay, mature dry-grown vines, and organic farming give the wine concentration without losing freshness.
Restraint shapes the cellar work
Gentle plunging, controlled fermentation, extended maceration, and larger French puncheons build polish without sanding away the site.
95 points from Halliday Wine Companion
Tony Love’s exact-vintage review leads because it captures the wine’s defining tension: concentration and mineral energy in the same glass.
Six-Bottle Value Comparison
One comparison unit throughout: six bottles at ShopWineSlash, the supplied Wine-Searcher average, and the official estate price.
Six bottles at ShopWineSlash total $174. The supplied exact-vintage Wine-Searcher average converts to $360, while the official $95 estate price converts to $570 for the same six bottles.
Your allocation saves $186 versus the supplied average and $396 versus the official estate reference. The $60 average is labeled as supplied for this promotion; the estate’s $95 price was checked on its exact 2018 listing.
The practical result is unusual: a flagship, organically farmed Cabernet Franc blend can move from special-occasion territory into the dinner rotation.
Six-bottle savings versus the official $570 estate reference total.
Add any six more ShopWineSlash bottles to reach 12 and ship free.
Secure Your AllocationRed fruit, graphite, herbs, and seamless length
The wine carries Bordeaux-family structure, but its energy and red-fruited lift make it unmistakably Frankland River.
Frankland Estate describes 2018 as one of the region’s strongest vintages in more than a decade. A wet winter and spring supported healthy vines, while a dry mild-to-warm summer carried the fruit steadily through the late-April harvest.
Fresh red berries, cherry, mulberry, redcurrant, and musky plum form the lifted core.
Cassis, blackberry, blackcurrant, and blue fruit add depth without pushing the wine heavy.
Dried Italian herbs, cedar, tobacco leaf, earth, anise, and saline detail.
Fine, even, mouthcoating tannins meet fresh acidity and a firm mineral line.
Pour at 60–64°F in a Bordeaux stem with duck, beef, or mushrooms.
Give it 45–60 minutes of air when opening now.
Red cherry, cassis, cedar, and firm mineral tannin lead.
Mulberry, plum, violet, dried herbs, and a creamier middle emerge.
Tobacco leaf, earth, anise, and bittersweet mineral detail lengthen the finish.
Gentle extraction, separate fermentations, larger French oak
Every cellar choice is aimed at preserving Cabernet Franc perfume, freshness, and the firm mineral identity of Isolation Ridge.
Separate fermentations: Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Malbec were fermented separately, slowly, and below 27°C so each component retained its own shape.
Gentle handling: Open tanks allowed careful plunging, while extended maceration helped resolve flavor and tannin without pushing extraction.
Measured ageing: The finished blend spent 15 months in 500-litre French oak puncheons, adding cedar and polish while keeping the fruit, herbs, and mineral line visible.
A flagship named for the man who saw the future
Olmo’s Reward turns a 1955 viticultural prediction into one of Western Australia’s most individual red wines.
In 1955, UC Davis viticulturist Harold Olmo visited the Upper Frankland River and concluded that its potential matched or exceeded established quality districts in Australia and California. The Smith Cullam family later named this flagship blend in his honor.
Frankland Estate was established in 1988 by Judi Cullam and Barrie Smith. Their children Hunter and Elizabeth Smith, together with Brian Kent, have refined Olmo’s Reward through organic viticulture, lower production, gentler extraction, older and larger oak, and increasing confidence in Cabernet Franc.
The result is not an imitation of Bordeaux. It is a medium-bodied expression of Isolation Ridge: red-fruited, ferruginous, vigorous, elegant, and tied closely to one remote Western Australian place.
Duck with cherry-Port sauce and porcini-crusted tenderloin
One pairing amplifies Cabernet Franc’s red fruit; the other leans into the wine’s earth, graphite, cedar, and polished tannin.
Choose duck when you want the lifted cherry and mulberry side to sing; choose porcini and beef when you want the mineral, earthy depth to lead.
Serve at 60–64°F and decant for 45–60 minutes. That gives the red fruit, graphite, herbs, and oak time to settle into one seamless line.
Duck Breast with Cherry-Port Sauce
Crisp-skinned duck and a sweet-tart cherry-Port reduction mirror the wine’s red-fruited lift while giving its tannins enough richness to work against.
Why it works: Cherry and Port amplify mulberry, cassis, and plum; duck fat softens the graphite-driven structure.
View Recipe for duck breast with cherry-Port sauce (opens in a new tab)
Porcini-Crusted Beef Tenderloin
Porcini creates a deep woodland crust around tender beef, matching the wine’s earth, cedar, tobacco leaf, and savory mineral finish.
Why it works: The tenderloin respects the wine’s elegance, while porcini draws out its cigar-box and ironstone complexity.
View Recipe for porcini-crusted beef tenderloin (opens in a new tab)95 Points. $29. Olmo’s Reward Is the Buy.
A benchmark vintage, Cabernet Franc-led distinction, organic Isolation Ridge fruit, and a $66-per-bottle estate-price advantage make this a flagship worth buying by the six.
Duck, beef tenderloin, mushrooms, roast lamb, game, and aged cheese all meet the wine on its savory ground.
The estate’s technical sheet calls out the structure and intensity to reward further cellaring.
Open one, share one, and keep several bottles to watch the red fruit, herbs, and mineral tannin evolve.
Six bottles • $174. The supplied average totals $360 for six, while the official estate price totals $570.
