GrapeScott

I found three bottles of this in an unmarked box in the cellar the other week, and given my experience with the 1999 version have promptly consumed 2 bottles. And most delicious they were.

Waves of curranty goodness with leaf, gravel and some savoury mint, almost like Vietnamese mint. The palate showed bright fruit backed by savoury stones, with rich and minerally red cherries and red currants. Super tannins, super length and really very enjoyable. Drink now, or cellar for another 5 years or so.

Rated : 93 Points
Tasted : Jul09
Alcohol : 13.5%
Price : $35
Closure : Cork
Drink : 2009-2014
Source : Cellar
Website : Devil’s Lair

I have heard on the grapevine that this wine in a decline, so I thought it was time to try one of my magnums. Lots of pencilly oak, with black olives, black fruits, tapenade, milk chocolate, red cherries, a touch of tobacco, but not a lot though. The palate is dry and on the short side, with some tangy fruits, dark cherry fruits and some pleasant tannins. It is not exactly fruity, and that which remains will not improve from here. Oaky and okay. Has some charm, but not entirely likeable. Drink up.

Rated : 86 Points
Tasted : Jul09
Alcohol : 13.8%
Price : $90
Closure : Cork
Drink : 2009-2012
Source : Cellar
Website : Devil’s Lair

A solid red, but with a touch of browning. Milk chocolate, tobacco leaf, black olives and cedar, but also something sinister lurking in the shadows. A lovely palate, red currants, tobacco, cedar, beautiful tannins and a grippy dryness. Sounds okay, eh? But with time I realised I’d been fooling myself, and perhaps if it had been a cheaper bottle of wine I would have declared it sooner. The bugger was corked! And as soon as this spoken, the game was over and I chucked the rest of the bottle. Perhaps I should have consumed it faster?

Rated : n/a
Tasted : Jul09
Alcohol : 13.5%
Price : $53.50
Closure : Cork
Drink : ?
Source : Cellar
Website : Cullen

Last bottle from a six pack. Red currants, red berries, leather, gravel and a touch of horse hair. The palate was quite big and meaty, showing strong tannins with creamy red cherries and red currants, milk chocolate, cedar and minerally dryness. The tannins are still quite firm and chunky, not quite resolved, but I don’t think the wine is going to get any better from here, because with the fruit fading it is only going to get hollow and seem unbalanced. Regardless, quite satisfying to drink.

Rated : 90 Points
Tasted : May09
Alcohol : 14.5%
Price : $45
Closure : Cork
Drink : 2009-2014
Source : Cellar
Website : Cape Mentelle

I was in the Margaret River last week and took the opportunity to visit a couple of cellar doors. I made the mistake of trying to go to Moss Brothers late one afternoon and found myself arriving just after a couple of minvans. So I decided to get to Cape Clairault first thing in the morning to avoid the rush. Unfortunately all the whites and a couple of the reds had been opened since the previous day and seemed quite oxidised to me. On the up-side, this wine and the 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon were freshly opened and I think they showed quite well. The straight Cabernet was much more tannic than the blend, so it was a bottle of the latter that was purchased and consumed while watching the sun set over the Indian Ocean, out of smallish glasses. The wine was quite fragrant, with aromas of blackberries, cocoa, milk chocolate and a touch of leafy goodness. The palate is plush and soft, blackberries, plums, dried herbs and leaf propped up by sweet oak. Smooth and satisfying, fine tannins without any astringency, and really quite delicious.

Rated : 89 Points
Tasted : May09
Alcohol : 14.5%
Price : $24
Closure : Screwcap
Drink : 2009-2013
Source : Cellar Door
Website : Cape Clairault

The last vintage of Cape Mentelle Cabernet that I bought. After that, I sort of lost interest.

Raisins, nougat, stewed cherries, liqueured plums and a blackness reminiscent of tar. On the palate, red fruits and confection, not terribly varietal, but looking more like a lumpy dry red. Alcohol through the palate and heat on the finish. I think they really lost the plot with this wine. Not special, when, by all rights it should be a very good wine.

Rated : 85 Points
Tasted : Nov08
Alcohol : 15%
Price : $50
Closure : Cork
Drink : 2008-2011
Source : Cellar
Website : Cape Mentelle

One sniff and “Woof!”; it smells a bit French. Not that the French are the only ones to produce wines that are a bit bretty and feral. On the nose, coffee beans, a dry horseyness, old straw and red berries. The palate shows blackberries, black beans, sweaty leather, Asian spices and horse hair. There is also some pleasing dry extract on the palate that follows through to the finish. It still has fruit, and though it is a bit of a high-wire act fighting those bretty characters, I think in this case that complexity wins over perceived faults.

Rated : 91 Points
Tasted : Oct08
Alcohol : 14.2%
Price : $30
Closure : Cork
Drink : 2008-2010+
Source : Cellar
Website : Voyager Estate