Tag Archives: Cabernet Sauvignon

Penfolds St Henri 2002

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I wish I knew why, but lately I seem to be over-sensitive to the difference between immaculately filtered wines and wines that are still soupy with debris left over from the winemaking process. Last week, I enjoyed a couple of bottles of Chinon with friends, and both of those bottles left you with a mouthful of residue. I wonder – is that the vinuous equivalent of bongwater? But I digress.Brilliant, sparkling, deep red, this wine is beautifully perfumed. It smells remarkably of damson jam or even German Zwetschgenkuchen, but it’s not the usual South Australian raspberry fruit bomb. Instead, there’s a strong note of freshly shined shoes and saddle leather backing it up, which gives it a much fresher, brighter dimension. There’s even a twinge of eucalypts and violets there somehow; it’s wonderfully complex and a real delight to smell this wine.Medium-full bodied in the mouth, the texture has been buffed to a glossy sheen; tannins, if any, appear to be fully resolved or so satiny that they’re not perceptibly there until the finish, which leaves just enough of a tannic impact to read as “serious.” Taste-wise there’s something like a Christmas cake effect, but again: it’s mostly dark red berries with a hint of blackstrap molasses and just the faintest hit on the onset of bottle age. My only complaint is that the’res incongrous acidity that peeks its head out on the finish, interrupting what’s otherwise a very smooth, elegant line with a rush of “ow, I hope I remembered to restock the antacids.” Even so, this thing is a wonderfully streamlined wine that seems to me a lot like a Chris Ringland Barossa monster Shiraz minus the pruney notes and overachieving alcohol. I like.That being said, my partner just chimed and said “uh, this sure seems corporate and bland.” He does have a point; there is something awfully same-y about this wine. Where is it from? Australia? California? There really isn’t anything especially distinctive about it, and that too is a drawback. Plus, what I’m reading as high acidity could just be high alcohol; it’s still just under 15%, and that does seem to throw the finish out of whack.Penfolds
Price: $40
Closure: Cork

O'Leary Walker Cabernet Sauvignon 2006

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In a nice nod to sub-regionality, the back label identifies this wine’s fruit as having been sourced from Armagh and Polish Hill River. Work was a slog today, so much so that I just had to swing by the local Dan’s Choice and pick up a bottle of something I haven’t tried before. Usually, my wine purchases are a lot more deliberate. The obsessive side of my personality, if I can be so euphemistic as to call my defining characteristic a “side,” usually demands my choice of beverage be the result of some consideration. But I just grabbed this at the shop without much thought. And here we are.

I guess I should rely on chance more often. This is a really honest wine, well-made and flavoursome. Swirly, rather high toned aromas of spice and mint encircle dust and moderately well-defined Cabernet fruit. We’re a long way from Coonawarra or Bordeaux with this wine, but that’s alright because it’s a comfortable, even slightly plush place. The aroma profile seems warmer, somehow, cuddlier than more restrained Cabernet styles, even as it challenges with a bit of savoury tar, cooked meat and slightly sharp oak.

McWilliam's Barwang Cabernet Sauvignon 2001

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I picked this up for a song at a local bottlo in the Lockyer Valley. Not terribly promising provenance, to be sure. But it’s drinking really well right now, so I guess this particular bottle hasn’t had too hard a life.

Calm, poised aromas of ripe foliage squished between the pages of old leather-bound books, cedar, vanilla custard, clean blackcurrant juice. A little volatile. It’s ageing especially well in terms of aroma profile, I think, although you’d need to be partial to a fairly high degree of oak influence to fully enjoy it.

Yalumba The Menzies 1999

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I opened this bottle a week ago tonight – and immediately though “ugh, something is seriously wrong with this bottle.” I recorked it, put it in the fridge, and forgot about it until Thursday, at which point I took it back out of the fridge, stashed it behind the toaster, and forgot about it again. Tonight, seven days later, I finally thought “well, I should brave another taste before throwing it out.”  Good thing I did.I don’t know what changed in a week or why the chill-and-warm cycle should have helped, but this wine finally tastes good. There’s still just a flash of that strange, off-putting note on the nose, but at this point I can at least pretend it’s some kind of Australian mintiness, something particularly Coonawarra here. Underneath that is a rich, woody sort of reek peeking its nose around the corner; it’s simultaneously surprisingly youthful, but with flashes of unsuspected age here and there.Texturally, this wine is absolutely perfect to me: full bodied, nicely supported by lingeringly grippy tannins, ending on a very solid woody note that lingers for a while. The overall effect is of very earthy cigar box and pencil shavings: not much rich primary fruit left but all of the body has been left behind to duke it out with well judged oak.Given that it’s been beat up so much over a week and still drinks so nicely, I think the best thing to do would have been to decant this thing at least an hour before drinking. Sadly, this was my last bottle so I won’t get a chance to do so, but trust me: this wine ain’t dead yet.Yalumba
Price: $30
Closure: Cork

Rosemount Show Reserve Coonawarra Cabernet 2002

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Smelling somewhat like children’s strawberry-flavored breakfast cereal at first, the wine doesn’t seem to change much over time: the nose is attractive if simple, not identifiably Coonawarra, and doesn’t display much in the way of overt oakiness or aged notes.

In the mouth, though, the oak suddenly reveals itself rudely, taking over the texture of the wine and adding an only moderately pleasant charry note to the midpoint of the wine. The finish is fairly long, but again fairly straightforward: a bunch of toasty oak riding roughshod over some fruit that frankly isn’t quite up to the task here.

Is this wine any good? That’s hard to say. I wouldn’t say it’s bad exactly, but it seems like an otherwise decent red wine – competent if somewhat lacking in actual Coonawarra flavor – was lost in the process of making it “reserve” by oaking it to death. I’m not a fan of this style unless the fruit’s as huge as the wood, and in this case it just doesn’t measure up.

Rosemount
Price: $15
Closure: Cork

Clonakilla Cabernet Merlot 2001

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It probably won’t come as a relevation that Chris and I are fans of Clonakilla’s wines. I remember once visiting the cellar door and having a chat with Tim Kirk about this Cabernet blend, and was surprised to hear him express reservations. I suppose the Canberra District calls to mind Shiraz and, to a lesser extent, Riesling, with Cabernet-based wines tending to fall into the same “why would you” territory as Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Still, I’m always on the lookout for glorious exceptions, and I’ve usually enjoyed this label a great deal.

High quality cork. Beautiful, heady aroma of violets, blackcurrant fruit, cedar and some underlying decay. It’s quite a thick, enveloping aroma profile, though it retains some of the angular elegance I associate with Cabernet Sauvignon. I love smelling this wine, and for my taste it is showing enough bottle age to add significant complexity without challenging those who have a distaste for old red wine.

Really good continuity from nose to palate. There are a few striking aspects to this wine as it currently stands. Firstly, the flavour profile echoes the aroma’s complexity and balance of aged versus primary notes. It reminds me a little of aged Hunter red wines, with some light earthiness alongside more classically Cabernet flavours. Secondly, mouthfeel is soft and gently textural, and for a moment hides the degree to which flavours adhere to the tongue. There’s a really interesting interplay between luxurious flavours and structure, which moves from slippery to textured to almost crunchy on the after palate. Here it becomes evident there’s still considerable acidity keeping the wine fresh, and I imagine guaranteeing it a few more productive years in bottle.

Cabernet may not contribute to the Canberra District’s renown, but here’s a wine that, eight years after vintage, is still continuing to improve. Not bad. A beautiful wine.

Clonakilla
Price: $35
Closure: Cork

MadFish Premium Red 2006

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Tasting obscure, limited run, single vineyard wines from boutique producers is just so… obvious. Let’s face it, for those on a limited budget, much of our satisfaction must derive from more accessible wines. Quite apart from affordability, I have to admit I’m more than a little fascinated by the challenge that surely faces producers of cheap, larger volume labels. In this space, MadFish has developed an admirably positive name for itself. What, then, to make of this current release Premium Red?

Not as much as I would have liked, I’m afraid. A full nose of dusty Cabernet fruit mixed with softer, round berries. Quite fragrant, part of its personality is a good dose of green leaf, verging on astringent twig. I’m not bothered by some green notes in Cabernet, but this one verges on excessive, at least for my taste. Still, good volume. The palate confirms a borderline unripe flavour profile, although there’s also a decent amount of sweet dark berry fruit alongside. It’s actually a very well-formed wine, structurally, with a nice swell to the middle palate and a gently tapered after palate and finish. Waves of sweet fruit push through entry and mid-palate in particular. But astringent, marginal tannins intrude towards the end and roughen up what is, otherwise, a good BBQ red.

MadFish Wines
Price: $20
Closure: Stelvin

Zema Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2004

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Interesting bunch, these 2004 Coonawarras. It was obviously a good vintage, but what’s fascinating to me is how each maker interprets their fruit in the context of an acknowledged Australian “classic” style. So far, three wines (Leconfield, Wynns, and this), three quite different interpretations. Perhaps it’s misleading to discuss regions in terms of a singular style. Sure, there are common elements, but it’s the differences that tell the most compelling story.

Initially wild on the nose, and a bit hot, but settling quickly into classic Cabernet notes of leafiness and cool dark fruit. There’s vanilla/cedar oak too, a fair bit of it actually, but the fruit has the scale to contain it. This isn’t a shy wine at all — the nose is quite expressive and the whole thing feels generous.

The palate continues this theme with immediately accessible fruit flavours wrapped in a textured, chunky mouthfeel. Although not quite full bodied, we’re squarely in “big red wine” territory here, fruit-driven and mouthcoating. Notes of red and black fruits (with perhaps a prune or two thrown in) dominate the middle palate before giving way to more astringent flavours like brambles, black olives and tartly unripe berries. I like this progression. Really good consistency through the palate, with no dips or dead spots. Fine, ripe tannins start to blanket the tongue towards the finish. Pretty good length.

This is the kind of wine you’d want to pull out in the middle of a convivial dinner party, perhaps just as you’ve dragged that lasagne from the oven, piping hot and rich with béchamel and Bolognese. You’ve worked your way through some sparking, a riesling or two, and you’re ready for the main event. Crowd-pleasing.

Zema Estate
Price: $25
Closure: Cork

Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2004

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Quite a savoury, complex expression of Cabernet, totally different from Leconfield’s 2004 effort. This wine shows a classically leafy aroma profile, lean and a little angular, with some graphite and smokey cedar in amongst lithe blackcurrant fruit. There’s an interesting (and slightly odd) earthy note, plus a light edge of confected red fruit too. A lot going on here for a young wine.

In the mouth, equally lean but with a sour thrust that I find delicious. The entry is deceptively smooth, as it’s not until the middle palate that both sourness and fruit weight begin to register. It never reaches any particular heights in terms of presence, and at times it tastes a little dilute, but I enjoy the fact that this is a light wine, nimble and sprightly in the mouth. Tannins are firm and start to take over on the after palate. They’re a little raw at the moment and feel unevenly distributed, but add a welcome rusticity to the mouthfeel. Reasonable length.

If you must drink this now, make sure you accompany it with food, as this will smooth out the structure and fill the wine in to an extent. I think it will drink better as a more mature wine, and suspect it will transform into one of those ephemeral 1970s Coonawarra Clarets that, as aged wines, sparkle with decaying delicacy.

Wynns Coonawarra Estate
Price: $25
Closure: Cork