A blend of 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Cabernet Franc and 4% Merlot with a splash of Petit Verdot. It’s pretty much the same cépage as the flagship Domaine A Cabernet although it’s made with less oak and an eye towards earlier drinking.
Not a style that will suit everyone but I’m sure many will get off on its particular quirks. I did. Blackcurrant, creamed corn and cedar with a pronounced leafy rim that offers more than a passing nod to green ferns and moss. There’s some red fruit and mint as well. A whiff of tanned leather dissipates with time.
The bouquet is oddly compelling and the palate follows suit. Plenty of long, grainy tannin on an earth and lead pencil fade out. I wouldn’t describe it as elegant; ripe fruit is contrasted with tense muscularity and a tomato umami-ness…a final resolution is lacking. Nevertheless, like a suspended chord, I’ve a soft spot for it. Whether or not that third ever gets played, only time will tell. Good
Region: Tasmania, Coal River Valley
Alcohol: 13.5%
Closure: Diam
Price: $28
Tasted: August 2011
Sounds a bit DMS-ey?
J.
Yes, I suspected DMS. It sort of ‘worked’ for me though.
A cepage is a grape variety, not a blend
It can be used to designate either.