There’s plenty of ‘new wave’ things around these days.  At my age, I have trouble keeping up with all the new gadgets and gizmos in the high tech world.  To a certain extent it’s no different in the wine world.  Take a minute or two (but you’ll probably need many more than that) and check out the (relatively) new grape varieties being grown in Australia that eventually find their way into bottles.  I’m not saying this is a bad thing, far from it.  But what I would like to say is, not one of these varieties is ever likely to make the ‘Noble Variety’ list like Cabernet Sauvignon.  When you see Cabernets of this nature and stature being made, maybe they need to be rewarded.  They have the ‘Nobel Lauretate’, how about something along the lines of ‘Noble Wine Laureate’?  Just a thought.

This is the second of the new release ‘Bin’ wines (this was the Bin 18 shiraz) by Tim Stevens who got a bit excited about a couple of barrels of Cabernet and simply could not blend them away.  Thanks again Tim for looking after uspunters.

A lovely deep colour.  Plenty on offer aromatically.  Dark fruits galore and some (cedary?) oak on the nose got things underway.  I have to admit, I was initially a little concerned about the upfront oak but I felt the abundant fruit would sort it out.  Sure enough, it didn’t let me down when I tasted it.

Rich and generous black fruits, mid palate plumpness (don’t know if that’s a word but that describes it for me) and a slight herb character puts its two bobs worth in with the fruit.   It has a smooth, creamy feel on the palate and judicious tannins have a bit to say on the finish.  Yes, it has plenty of everything.  Yes, it offers more of everything.  But everything is perfectly in balance already.  The timing couldn’t be better for the release of this wine what with the cooler weather about to make its presence felt.

Huntington Estate Website

Region: Mudgee, NSW     Price: $32     Source: Sample thanks to Huntington Estate and Define Wine