March 11, 2024 - Excellent, everything in harmony, long finish
January 19, 2024 - Dark ruby colour. Beautiful drinking.
December 25, 2023 - Colour still deep red. Nose has strong white pepper and baking spices.
Lovely medium bodied seamless plush fruit. Finishes quite long. Spices again on the palate. Just lovely with the roast turkey. Drink up as not likely to improve.
December 16, 2023 - Liquorice and dark fruits on nose. Fresh, rounded mouthfeel. Lovely dark fruit flavours along with liquorice and great length. Still has a nice freshness. Drinking really well - a delicious wine. Still has plenty of life left.
December 10, 2023 - Beautiful!
November 6, 2023 - Ripe dark and red berries and beautiful herbs and spices. Some licorice and chocolate, beautiful acidity and round tannin. Great drinking stage, but no hurry at all.
June 17, 2023 - First time I am drinking this wine with age. I have always been a fan of this and tonight's bottle confirms it. Really tastes like a solid Cote Rotie. Meaty, savory aromas intermixed with black pepper. The palate is fresh, medium bodied.
January 21, 2023 - Rich, almost decadently so, in the Cka context. Bold dark colours, undimmed by time. An equally bold, unrestrained nose. Loaded with blackberry and blueberry, bacon drippings and exotic spice, in equal measure. Where some will see outrageous Viognier I get pork/pork fat aromas that I associate with aged Cote Rotie or the better SVs. Enticing.
A plush palate to match the heady nose. Rich but not fat. Holds good line and length. Lots of depth, intensity and complexity. Will it age further? Me thinks so, taking on more of those classic aged Cka roasting dish aromas, more earthy and savoury notes too.
This rated well but not best of class at the Clonakilla 50th anniversary. Even Jeremy Oliver, who feted it as his wine of the year when released, said he was surprised it hadn’t shone as expected. Context as we know can shape perceptions and play tricks with your senses. My hunch is the 09 looked buxom and perhaps overdone in the lineup. It came between the supremely silky, Chambertin-like 08, and the refined, styled 15 and 16. All warm (‘glow’, to cite the maker) years. But 09 was always the biggest, most embroidered of the line, even compared with the hotter 19 vintage. It may have appeared almost luscious by comparison.
It is rich, it is magisterial, and it is superb. Try one if you have some. It’s drinking supremely well. If you don’t have any, get some. And praise the deities above.
August 20, 2022 - Balanced with a long finish. Excellent.
January 11, 2022 - Beautiful bottle - this is ageing slowly but wonderfully. It is restrained and elegant in that Cote-Rotie-Meets-Australia way that marries beefy stock notes with a tug of sweetness on the fruit. No rush. Great stuff.