One from the cellar. As an aside, the first bottle I had of this wine was tainted with a strikingly unpleasant mercaptan rubber cabbage stink, and was replaced courteously and promptly by the winery. All subsequent bottles have been clean as a whistle.
More than a dash of smoky, sweet oak; it's prominent but also complementary to the fruit's aroma profile, which is ripe, dense and savoury. There's almost liqueur-like black cherry and some Hunter earth, maybe even a hint of cured pork, dark and slightly brooding in character. Entry is flavoursome, with good immediacy and some interesting textural complexity. There's nice mix of silkiness and powdery phenolics. Full bodied, the wine's mid-palate is still quite focused and primary, sweetly oak heavy as per the nose, and strikes me as resembling adult bubble gum (if such a thing existed). Nice presence on the after palate, where the wine lightens a little and prepares for a finish of excellent length and deliciously ripe tannins.
It's not typically Hunter in style, but that's neither here nor there, as the wine is coherent in and of itself. Overall, the impression is flavoursome and rustic, but never obvious or clumsy. Try this wine with equally assertive food -- a tasty dish of pasta and rich ragu would be perfect.
Meerea Park
Cost: $A25
Closure: Cork
Date tasted: May 2008
More than a dash of smoky, sweet oak; it's prominent but also complementary to the fruit's aroma profile, which is ripe, dense and savoury. There's almost liqueur-like black cherry and some Hunter earth, maybe even a hint of cured pork, dark and slightly brooding in character. Entry is flavoursome, with good immediacy and some interesting textural complexity. There's nice mix of silkiness and powdery phenolics. Full bodied, the wine's mid-palate is still quite focused and primary, sweetly oak heavy as per the nose, and strikes me as resembling adult bubble gum (if such a thing existed). Nice presence on the after palate, where the wine lightens a little and prepares for a finish of excellent length and deliciously ripe tannins.
It's not typically Hunter in style, but that's neither here nor there, as the wine is coherent in and of itself. Overall, the impression is flavoursome and rustic, but never obvious or clumsy. Try this wine with equally assertive food -- a tasty dish of pasta and rich ragu would be perfect.
Meerea Park
Cost: $A25
Closure: Cork
Date tasted: May 2008
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