An Epic Day of Cabernet

Cabernet Sauvignon was in the house last week as I put together a list of 25 wines from near and far at our home in McLaren Vale.  The ten invitees were a mixed bag of Australian/Expat winemakers, one merchant/educator, and one owner/grower.  Two months ago I had done a mataro tasting with 28 wines and 12 people, so this was the second in what will hopefully be a long series.  I learned from the previous tasting that 20 wines was the better number and I earnestly tried to keep it there this time around, but sure enough I added another five.  I couldn’t help myself.  The day before the tasting I exhumed roughly 15 cases securely stored down in a truck maintenance pit in the drill company's shed.  There were heavy metal lids that required a forklift to remove and a layer of plywood keeping the wines out of my reach on a regular basis.  Needless to say, it was time to get them out, as many wines were now over 10 years old.  In the pit were some gems that made it into the lineup:  2002 Lake’s Folly (I actually found a vertical from 1999) and a ’98 Wendouree Cab.  There is a lot of older port that I left behind for another day.
Our Omenstter Vineyard in McLaren Vale has 5 acres of very good quality cabernet on it, so I thought it would be a good way to not only size up the global competition, but to think long and hard about what regional style I prefer the most.  How well do the wines age? I double decanted the wines the morning of the tasting and used Spiegelau Bordeaux glasses.  The 25 wines selected were divided into 5 flights of 5.  The  saddest news was a corked 1989 Cos d’Estournel donated by Duncan “El Hefe” Wilcox and a 1994 Wynns “John Riddoch”.  Fortunately, I had acquired a magnum of the Wynns ’97 “JR”.  It figures the two wines I really wanted to look at were corked.  The 04 Serre  Nuove from Ornellaia wasn’t showing well either, tasting listless and flat.  I’d like to give this wine another shot one day.

 
 

Napa Valley and Bordeaux are regions renowned for their cabs, and they didn’t disappoint.  I had brought some California wines back from the States on a few different  occasions.  The ’06 Larkmead was full bodied, as Napa cabs usually are, and excellently crafted; perhaps my wine of the day.  The much anticipated ’98 Spottswoode Napa cab was off a bit (tasting of creamed corn!); fortunately, I have another bottle.  The 2006 St. Julien from Leoville Poyferre was on the mark with more roasted notes of coffee and new leather.  I loved that wine, and also the 05 Prieure-Lichine and Bahans Haut Brion were full of lovely roasted nuts and meats on the nose. What was identified by the winemakers as the wine fault "Brett" was something I enjoyed immensely in small doses and differentiates the French from the New World.

 

Being a warm climate here, not unlike Napa Valley, we tend to get very ripe cabernet fruit in McLaren Vale.  At times it’s hard to tell it apart from the shiraz.  The Waywood, Geddes, and Thorpe wines from the 04 and 06 vintages were all restrained, however. The '07 Wirra Wirra "Angelus" was not as profound as their '05 and '06; a bit one dimensional, but to their credit '07 was a very tricky vintage in the Vale. Drew Noon's 2006 Cab Reserve from Langhorne Creek opened nicely and had great focus and fruit and a touch of what one taster recognized as a "sandy quality typical of Langhorne".   Margaret River out in the Southwest corner of Oz is much cooler district and the cabs have a different profile; a definite herbal, gerkin-dillweed character.  This was the case in the ’92 Cullen, ’97 Moss Wood, ‘98 Cape Mentelle, and especially the 07 Cherubino.  At $70 the Cherubino was a shocking disappointment; the gerkin qualities in the wine were over the top. The 92 Cullen was fully mature and fading a bit now, but the 97 Moss Wood was still fresh with plenty of guts left.   Coonawarra was another area explored, in particular the “Terra Rossa” ridge which is a 2 x 15km continuous red clay over limestone terroir; the same geological profile as our Pelion vineyard. Where we get a lavender and iodine note, however, Coonawarra pulls bell pepper and mint characteristics.  The ’97 Wynns “John Riddoch” magnum was in great condition and the Parker Estate was still just a baby.  The 06 Bellwether was still a year away from revealing itself, but it had all the components of terrific wine:  great focus and balance, with nice tannins and fruit intensity, only the nose was a little shy.   The 98 Wendouree, the only Clare Valley representative, was full on eucalypt and sweet mint, as it has been every vintage I've ever tried.

 

Perhaps the most pleasant surprise of the day, besides how well reggae compliments cabernet,  was the ’91 Chateau Tahbilk from Victoria.  It was definitely at its peak with plenty of earthy complexity and musky sweet fruit and an absolute steal for $25 at auction.  “Odd Bins” auction has become a terrific source for older wines.  For some reason the older bottles don’t get drunk much in Oz,  which is a pity because a lot of that big fruit we get here can finally mellow out with a few years.  And for 25 bucks from an age worthy and well known producer, it’s worth a shot, and the wine was great.

 

The day finished with braised lamb shanks and couscous washed back with Epic Pale Ale from NZ.  I’m thinking more about blending our cabernet with some merlot and cab franc, as I really enjoyed the complexity of the Bordeaux model.   The Aussie wines that were straight cab seemed to be a little one dimensional, although I’ll probably catch some flack for saying that.  We’ll see how things go during vintage this year, but all in all, as Choco said,  it was a “cracker tasting”.

In order of tasting, each flight begins in bold:

• 1. 2004 Rockford “Rifle Range” Cabernet, Barossa. $55
• 2. 2007 Joel Gott “815” Cabernet, California. $30
• 3. 2005 Les Tourelles de Longueville, 2nd for Pichon-Baron, Pauillac, Bordeaux. $110
• 4. 2006 Waywood Cabernet, McLaren Vale. $30
• 5. 2003 Domaine A Cabernet, Coal River Valley, Tasmania. $65
• 6. 2005 Chateau Bahans Haut-Brion, 2nd for Haut-Brion,
• Pessac-Leognan, Bordeaux. $135
• 7. 2004 Thorpe Reserve Cabernet, McLaren Vale. $45
• 8. 2006 Bellwether Cabernet, Coonawarra. $45
• 9. 2007 Cherubino Cabernet, Margaret River. $70
• 10. 2006 Noon Reserve Cabernet, Langhorne Creek. $100
• 11. 2005 Parker “Terra Rossa First Growth” Coonawarra. $75
• 12. 2006 Geddes Cabernet, McLaren Vale. $35
• 13. 2002 Lake’s Folly, Hunter Valley. $115
• 14. 2006 Larkmead Vineyards Cabernet, Napa Valley. $60
• 15. 2005 Chateau Prieure-Lichine, 4th Growth, Margaux, Bordeaux. $102
• 16. 2007 Wirra Wirra “The Angelus”, McLaren Vale. $50
• 17. 2006 Chateau Leoville Poyferre, 2nd Growth, Saint Julien, Bordeaux. $150
• 18. 1998 Cape Mentelle Cabernet, Margaret River. $60
• 19. 1997 Moss Wood Cabernet, Margaret River. $90
• 20. 2004 Le Serre Nuove dell’ Ornellaia, Bolgheri, Italy. $67
• 21. 1998 Wendouree Cabernet, Clare Valley. $70
• 22. 1998 Spottswoode Cabernet, Napa Valley. $70
• 23. 1991 Chateau Tahbilk Cabernet, Victoria. $25!
• 24. 1997 Wynns “John Riddoch” Cabernet(Magnum), Coonawarra. $163
• 25. 1992 Cullen Reserve Cabernet/Merlot (Magnum), Margaret River. $238