Delicious Cabernet takes time, thought, wonderful rich fruit and then very thoughtful winemaking skills to be able to ensure all these wonderful ingredients are maximised to their full potential. Bit like you would hope your children take their very expensive educations and STUDY?
Anyway, the beauty of this vintage and wine is all of the above have been handled correctly. It is a Cabernet built for the ages - supremely approachable now but if you force a few into the cellar - WOW - years ahead look good.
A great vintage from Coonawarra and the resulting body of the wine is awash with dense dark fruits., leather and choca mocha tobacco and some tinges of leaf brooding underneath some bold oak and firm tannins. Hints of Coonawarra dustiness but really something special in the making.
Time will be the judge of how brilliant this wine really is going to be as a cellar dweller.
Awards and Accolades
94 Points - James Halliday, Australian Wine Companion "Clean and pure. A flood of blackcurrant and mint with subtle tobacco notes drifting over the top. Classic flavour profile and with the structure to match, though it remains fluid, even seductive. Will mature gracefully and well."
91+ Points - Mike Bennie, The Wine Front "Smells regal, if there’s such a thing. Lavender oil, fine mahogany, smoke, ripe black berries, fig and date dried fruit, bayleaf. Complex perfume. Courses across the palate with firm tannin, black fruit, squeaky acidity – a chewy wine that spreads across the palate with assertiveness. One for cellaring, but should drink well as it unfurls."
Past Vintages
2012
95 Points - James Halliday, Australian Wine Companion "Estate-grown, and spent 12 months in French oak. A powerful but pure evocation of the variety that Coonawarra should be providing more frequently than it does; firm blackcurrant fruit is framed by equally firm tannins and cedary oak; its balance assures its development in bottle over many years to come."
2010
93 Points - Gary Walsh, The Wine Front "Black fruit, dark chocolate studded with mint, woody toasty spicy and nougat oak. Plush with fat ripe tannin and balanced acidity, it feels less forced than many from the region and made with some sensitivity. Rich dark fruit and chocolate flavours with glimmers of raspberry, tobacco and dried herb – not a sweet tasting wine – amen. Much to like here and if the DIAM cork holds up well, a good future in the cellar."
Don't Pay: $35.00
WBW Rating: 94/100
Closure: DIAM Cork
Region: Coonawarra, SA
Winemaker: Sandrine Gimon
Drink now until: 2025
Alc/Vol: 14.5 %
