Community Tasting Note

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Friday, November 21, 2014 - Producer: Taltarni
Winemaker: Dominique Portet
Region: Central Victoria, Australia
Variety: Cabernet Sauvignon
Vintage: 1993
Treatment: Unknown
ABV: 13.2%

Bottle condition: Very good.

Cork condition: Good. Staining to 80% length of the cork. No seepage, minimal ullage. Seal released easily.

Colour: Medium to deep garnet with somewhat lively red highlights. Relatively thick, slow legs.

Bouquet: Subtle but quite rich fruit character with deeper spicy or cigar-box wood and subtle earthy notes. Bouquet improves markedly within thirty minutes of opening.

Palate: Smooth and generous medium weight palate. On first approach both the bouquet and palate are somewhat closed, leading to the initial impression of a slight hollowness in the centre of the palate. Length is, likewise, short to medium at first then changing to medium/long after an hour of opening. In conjunction there is a comensurate development in depth and complexity. The palate broadens to reveal rich cassis, mature cedar or cigar box tones combined with subtle highlights of fine leather. The palate reveals a wine that, twenty one years after vintaging, is towards the end section of the maturation plateau and at this point is offering a rich, complex and graceful experience. Even at this age the wine is showing a very good balance between fruit, oak, alcohol and flavour - the equivalent of hitting a bullseye from twice the recommended distance. There was a small amount of tightly bound, fine grained, precipitate at the bottom of the bottle.

Summary: An excellent wine that, correctly cellared, delivers a wonderful flavoursome and full experience. The wine does a highly creditable job of showcasing how well wines from this region can be produced. There is no point in further cellaring this vintage with a view to further "improvement". This vintage is on, or towards the end, of its maturation plateau and has delivered all that the winemaker could reasonably have expected.

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