Community Tasting Note

Rote Kappelle Likes this wine:

Thursday, September 15, 2022 - The road goes on forever... a little like the finish of this very pleasing Cabernet. It isn't hard to rate it as 'Outstanding'.

2004 was one of those years that went under the radar a little, after the savage bushfire year of 2003; it was warm, but not hot, dry and easy for winemaking. The wine is under screw cap, thank God.

The colour is very dark garnet with some ruby - she is in good shape after 18 years. The nose starts very Coonawarra Cabernet - ripe cassis, a touch of mulberry, some sweet vanilla oak and a little tobacco leaf. This is fine but after about 4 hours the vanilla recedes (good riddance) and we start to see more polished leather, a touch of earth, a little cedar ad cigar box. Now this is much more to my liking. The sweet, clean fruit is still there but I like the balance better and there is a lot more complexity.

The palate has great intensity and length. Tannins are firm, fine and finish dry, but they play a lovely bass line to support the sweet fruit and all those splendid savoury notes. I think good palates would have no trouble picking this as Coonawarra in a blind tasting, however, the savoury aspects and the tannin structure whisper 'Tuscany' and it is the complexity that causes me to rate this as outstanding rather than excellent.

Isn't it lovely when a wine you felt would be good but a little simple turns out to offer real pleasure and interest? I doubt tonight's rugby match between a witless Oz side and a Kiwi unit that are not at their usual stratospheric level will achieve as much, but one might hope.

In terms of music this takes me to the surprise of finding that the Faces and Humble Pie offered more than expected; don't take it too far, of course - first and foremost they are entertainers but dig a little deeper...

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