A blend of 55% Merlot and 45% Cabernet Franc, which is standard fare for Bordeaux but an outlier blend in South Australia. 470 dozen produced. Spends 18 months in 50% new and 50% single-use oak, which has a lot of dominant barrel character. Hard to miss the oak, or this wine – it’s black and coffeed with thick dried fruit, caramel oak and warm alcohol. Full-bodied, dark and inky; this is a wine of winemaking as much as fruit, of big impact and tannins and width. But ultimately, it’s a bit overdone – a wine that hits you around the face, with a warm, slightly desiccated, oak and fruit tannins-shaped finish that has you looking for a glass of water and a lie-down.
Best drinking: no hurry, it will live forever. But may never be seductive. 17.5/20, 91/100. 14.4%, $90
