Dowie Doole Cabernet Sauvignon 2007

The third of three current release Dowie Doole reds tasted (also tasted: 2007 Shiraz and 2008 Merlot). This is the most interesting for me personally, as I strongly prefer cooler climate expressions of Cabernet. Yet, ironically, this is perhaps my favourite of the three; it’s strongly regional and quite delicious. 

A very expressive nose of ripe red plums, light cocoa and tea leaves, along with a bit of spicy oak. It’s one of those wines you can smell from across the room, and its character becomes more interesting and subtle as you approach, rather than simply becoming louder. The aroma profile is a bit blunt perhaps, lacking in elegance and shape. But it’s hard to argue with something that smells this good.
On the palate, lots of everything: fruit, oak, texture. It’s not a heavy wine, just generous, with good flow through the mouth. Flavours are of more ripe plums (perhaps slightly stewed), spicy vanilla oak and some chocolate, though less than on the nose. There’s herbaciousness too, though unlike the dusty leaf of a cooler climate wine, this expresses as sun-scorched, once-luxurious foliage. An especially tasty, sour finish of plum skins and sweet tannin. 
I was going to say that you have to like the style, but I don’t especially, yet I still find this quite convincing. Just drink it.

Dowie Doole
Price: $A21
Closure: Stelvin

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