Grand Cru Cabernet

United Cellars Grand Cru tasting. A few stars (see below) on the list so off I toddled. The wines were laid out on pretty random tables but, for ease of reading, I've divided them up by country

Hmm, I don't usually think much of the Cullen or Mount Mary but they showed quite well here today. Having said that my wine of the bracket was the Yeringberg

• 2015 Cullen Wines Diana Madeline

  Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Margaret River

  Nothing on the nose initially but with vigorous (hand over the glass and shake the beejesus out of it) agitation it reveals blackcurrant fruit ,pencil shavings, toast and slight plums. Initial fruit is ridden into the ground by slightly chalky textured medium plus intensity tannic grip but the fruit hacks it's way through this onslaught to the other side. Hmm. I'm not a fan of this wine as a rule but there is a bit of freshness here as well that makes me think it might come good after a few years.

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• 2014 Mount Mary Quintet

  Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Yarra Valley

  Red currant, toasted oak, sweet spice touches of plums and blackcurrant. Juicy tight and chewy tannins but still fresh and fleshy, fruit persists. Kind of nice and it's quite long. Okay

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• 2014 Rockford Cabernet Sauvignon Rifle Range

  Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley

  biscuit, blackcurrant, meaty and savoury with slight tobacco leaf on the nose. Juicy and fruit initially with a touch of sourness then joined by fine textured and slightly drying (especially front of mouth) tannic grip. Fruit persist long and is joined by chocolate notes. It's nice enough but not for me.

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• 2014 Lake's Folly Cabernets

  Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley

  high toned is, I believe, the expression muted red rather than black fruit. Cedar. Juicy red berry, fine tannins, fresh, quite lightweight in this group and a little short but I do like that freshness. Hmm

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• 2014 Yeringberg

  Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Yarra Valley

  Savoury black currant fruit with touches of brambles, pencil shavings and cigar box. Great nose. And this translates to the palate. Juicy, fleshy, dark fruits, talc textured tannins, cigar box notes. Long. Lovely.

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• 2013 Frankland Estate Olmo's Reward

  Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Frankland River

  Cream and earth (?) over perfumed ripe red tending to black currant and pencils shavings backed by sweet spice. Aniseed and liquorice in the mouth over dark savoury fruit, slightly astringent on the back palate. The tannins are quite contained. Okay.

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• 2015 S.C. Pannell

  Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale

  from a freshly opened bottle. Muted blackberry and currant, tiny eucalyptus hints and a little peppery spice. Thick, dense but richly fruity. Talc textured savoury tannins dry things out. Time please.

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The Te Mata was the pick of this lot...

• 2014 Klein Constantia Estate Red Blend

  South Africa, Coastal Region, Cape Peninsula, Constantia

  Cream, vanilla, violets, blackcurrant and a little peppery spice. In the mouth it's quite savoury fruit initially then ridiculously tight tannins that mask the fruit and, even oddly enough, the acidity, bit of a savoury shutout. Needs time?

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• 2011 Errazuriz Don Maximiano Founder's Reserve

  Chile, Aconcagua Valley

  Slight burnt rubber and sweaty blackcurrant, sweet spice, there is a ripeness to the fruit that is a little off-putting on the nose…and so it proves on the palate; over ripe sweaty blackcurrant. Nah.

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• 2011 Man O' War Vineyards Ironclad

  New Zealand, North Island, Auckland, Waiheke Island

  Perfumed but slightly unripe blackcurrant and plums, sweet spice. Merlot lends weight to the mid palate, tannins are grippy, raspy and quite drying. Fresh acidity.. Medium plus length. Hmm. I think I prefer their Shiraz

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• 2015 Te Mata Estate Coleraine

  New Zealand, North Island, Hawke's Bay

  A dark fruit ménage with toast an, earthy and meaty elements and slight floral up notes. Juicy acidity and bold, broad fruit on the palate backed by fine grippy tannins. Well balanced but impossibly young. One to forget about for, ooh, a decade or so.

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• 2008 Puriri Hills Reserve

  New Zealand, North Island, Auckland

  Meaty, biscuity, sweet plums over blackcurrant. Juicy and initial fruit burst drops off a bit over a muted tannic grip. Meh for me..

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I am usually a fan of American Cabernet Sauvignon but this selection didn't really work for me today...

• 2012 Matthiasson Cabernet Sauvignon Oak Knoll District

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Oak Knoll District

  Medium minus intensity aromas of fruit that is more red than black spectrum, slight mud/earth, pencil shavings and graphite. Juicy, savoury with fine textured tannins, fruit is a little muted but carries long with a little alcohol warmth as well. Hmm.

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• 2012 Mt. Brave Cabernet Sauvignon

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Mt. Veeder

  Blackcurrant cordial with touches of blueberry, polished okay. Juicy blackcurrant and blue berry reined in tannins, all persist long. Okay if not a little simple. A well made if not a touch dull wine.

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• 2012 Mount Eden Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  Oof…there's a cliché for you - massive beast wine but, well, none the worse for it this time. Ripe blackcurrant, polished oak, chocolate and spice…actually this is, with time, a little more controlled than I initially thought it would be…more of the same o the palate with a touch of herbaceousness that, when coupled with the alcohol and fruit extraction, puts me in mind of port....

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• 2013 Stonestreet Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Vineyards

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Alexander Valley

  Perfumed top notes, polished oak, blackcurrant and slight meaty notes. On the palate there is an initial juicy splash of blackcurrant then a huge tannic wall…positively Super-Tuscan in it's abundance. Fruit just about persists. Needs a millennia of time for this grip to integrate and calm but I'm not sure the fruit will last.

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• 2013 Arnot-Roberts Cabernet Sauvignon Clajeux Vineyard

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Chalk Hill

  Blackcurrant cordial and pencil shavings, cigar box and baked earthy, touches of salinity and herbaceousness. Juicy with plentiful tannins, the fruit is tending a little sour on the palate and the tannins are a little, umm, avuncular for me. It's a bit out of whack.

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On the day the Prieure Lichine showed best for me

• 2013 Domaine La Linquière Saint-Chinian Le Chant des Cigales

  France, Languedoc Roussillon, Languedoc, Saint-Chinian

  Polished oak, muted fruit, sweet spice…with agitation the fruit proves to be concentrated and, well, overripe to the point of touches of raisins…More of the same on the palate with chocolate covered liquorice. Meh.

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• 2010 Pauillac de Latour

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  Other than a slight savoury, meaty note there is an exceedingly polished cassis and plum driven wine here. Cedar and sweet spice. In the mouth it's juicy and savoury with flavours of blackcurrant, tobacco leaf and slight plum. Drying, plentiful, talc textured tannins Long. Young but has shed the puppy fat. At this price...hmm...possibly we're straying into Batailley territory for value...

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• 2005 Château Prieuré-Lichine

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  blackcurrant, polished, through muted, oak, touches of almost raspberry here as well. Fleshy, broad, smooth and exceedingly quaffable. Dark fruit hued. Medium plus length. In a pleasant spot though not really showing any tertiary characteristics. Rather nice.

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• 2005 Château Montrose

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe

  savoury blackcurrant, biscuit, very slight leather notes, crushed rock, touches of meatiness. Savoury, juicy, drying talc textured tannins Long with a bit of spice and warmth on the finish Muted fruit but this is quite closed - needs a good decant to show its true colours I would suspect.

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• 2000 Château Palmer

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  Ripe, slightly stewed blackcurrant and cassis, savoury, meaty but with time the fruit heightens and grows in the glass. Medium plus body, juicy acidity, savoury blackcurrant carries exceedingly long, balanced,. Still young. Appalling to show as a pop and pour.

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Let's start with the gripes - none of the wines had been opened very long & half of the tasting tables were in a diner next to the kitchen - which was in full flow. Those are probably the major ones. The positives were that it wasn't all elbows and that there were some very handy wines on show.
For the first few, for me, there did seem to be a propensity of biscuit and oak but that might just have been the relative state of the wines or the restaurant's overbearing scent...ho hum.