So refined, so beautiful to smell. Pencils, violet, cocoa and aniseed, plum and blackcurrant. Svelte, perfumed and pure of fruit, cool mineral acid line, tannin spreads out with a comforting cocoa warmth, slight hedgerow and edge, but carries it off. Runs cool and long, glassy acidity in the finish, perhaps ever so edgy, but carries it off with style. Less thunder and earth, more perfume, spring rain and cool nights, if you take my meaning. Different, but wonderful.
95+ points, The Wine Front (July 2019)
In keeping with the philosophy here of restrained ripeness, the 2017 Cabernet Malbec (13.4% alcohol) comes across as herbal on the nose, with a bit of bell pepper even, but there's also cassis and black cherries. It's medium-bodied, with tannins that manage to be silky but firm at the same time, like the stretched fabric of a kite over a balsa structure. Give it another five years or so in the cellar.
92 points, Wine Advocate (February 2020)
The Clare Valley
The Clare Valley is located two hours north of Adelaide in the Mount Lofty ranges. The region was settled by John Horrocks who encouraged his servant James Green to plant the first vines in 1842. Climate in the Clare Valley is continental with hot summers, cold winters and low rainfall that necessitates supplementary irrigation. Soils in the valley are predominantly red brown loams over shale, permitting excellent drainage. Many of the best vineyards are located at higher elevations of 400-500m on sites that take advantage of the cool breezes that funnel up the corrugation of hills from the south. The Clare Valley is renowned for its zesty fruit-pure Rieslings particularly from the sub-regions of Polish Hill and Watervale. The region also produces intense age-worthy sturdy reds from Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz.
