Absolutely brilliant. A captivating and detailed wine with veneers of interest peeling back with ease, give this Tapanappa Whalebone Vineyard Merlot Cabernet Franc some time and you’ll be rewarded. Three days of tasting certainly highlighted that.
From the last hot vintage of the previous 15 years (2005-2019), a meagre 3 tonnes of fruit was harvested per hectare due to poor fruit set. The Cabernet Franc was harvested on 1 April with the Merlot coming in at the normal time on 20 March.
The finished wine saw 50% new French oak for 17 months with the final blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc at 55/45.
Layers of interest seem never ending. Think dried figs, baked blueberries, plums, passata, tilled earth, wallet leather, bay leaf and twigs. A blackcurrant undertow is the common thread with a minty edge hitching a ride. Dried sage and thyme continue to offer much to peruse with bone broth and pan juices rushing late with fine beads of exotic spices lingering beautifully. Above all, its presence through the mouth is seamless. Like the Whalebone Vineyard Cabernet Shiraz, give this some time or a good decant to see it at its best. Superb drinking!
Drink to ten years+
96/100
