There’s bacon, smoke, some popcorn, even chocolate. Clear and fresh berry fruit is supported by straight-ahead oak. It all comes together in a chocolaty, slightly earthy package. Fun and good, if a bit short in the finish.
— W.E.
(10/1/2000)
(RE-WRITE: PRICE CHANGED FROM $11) It’s a great thing to find a Coonawarra wine that’s good and inexpensive. Its smooth texture is an asset. It tastes nothing like most other $10-ish Oz Cabs: Its plum fruit is fairly taut, and has gumtree-earthy accents, rather than sweetish, caramelly ones. Though I detected greenness on the nose right out of the bottle, it…
— D.T.
(5/1/2005)
When a wine’s flavors are this vibrant, thoughts about texture and ageability may fall by the wayside. Juicy blackberry, blueberry and plum is joined on the palate by mushroom, chocolate and oak. There’s a lot going on in this tasty red.
— D.T.
(12/31/2003)
Medium and smooth in the mouth, the Cab’s so prevalent here you’d think there was more than 52% here. There’s sturdy blackberry and black plum fruit on the palate, plus some eucalyptus and toast; dry, oaky tannins finish it off. A very good, though textbook, sort of wine. - D.M.
— D.T.
(6/1/2003)
This 60-40 Cab-Shiraz blend has aromas of black olive and eucalyptus and taut plum and black cherry flavors. Its chalky, claylike mouthfeel is Coonawarra, all the way. I'm glad this wine is as affordable as it is—it will help value seekers appreciate regional differences among Australian wines.
— D.T.
(12/31/2004)