Community Tasting Notes 7

• Rote Kappelle Likes this wine: 91 points

  April 1, 2023 - What a bit of the old nort-eye this is! Admitting to drinking, let alone enjoying this, one feels a little like Alec Guiness when he went by the pseudonym of Herbert Pocket, after an unfortunate brush with the law many years ago.
  
  Is this wine varietal, elegant, intellectual, or the other things one looks for in Cabernet? Absolutely not. Is it rip snorting great fun? Guilty as charged, Mr Pocket.
  
  One feels sure that Pantagruel was at least consultant wine maker here. The wine is insulted if it is referred to as being on the heroic scale, for that is not big enough. As it is under screw cap and from a very good year it debouches the bottle in full battle order; blackberry, at a generous stretch one might say blackcurrant jam, some leaf (surprisingly) and a nicely judged/fortuitous amount of earth and leather. The colour is surprisingly youthful - it shows as perhaps in its middle years. Tannins are soft, there is more refreshing acid than the colour etc. would lead one to expect and the finish goes on forever.
  
  There are many days when I would be deeply offended by this wine. There are others when I would regard it as more comedic than offensive and there are days when I just want to revel in its Stormy Danielsesque love handles and thrust and chortle away. Friday night just gone was one of those latter.
  
  On a more serious note, whilst I disparage this and mock it (to some extent), I think they know what they are doing and achieve it and I think they manage it better than, say Molly Dooker or Kays. There is always a touch of freshness, a little leaf/tomato stalk in their reds for complexity and it is fruit more than oak (though oak there is) that is the story. These are not expensive wines and like a Uriah Heep, or Grand Funk concert they always deliver and then some and there is just that element of true craft that can easily be missed. I also really like that the winery keeps wine back and releases it many years later, again at very reasonable prices. There is a place in my heart for this, though I feel ashamed to say it. This review is not by Rote Kappelle but by Rote Pocket.

  Comment

• tayls_81 wrote: 87 points

  October 23, 2014 - On the decline... Still quaffable!

  Comment

• BuffaloLou Likes this wine: 90 points

  February 6, 2013 - C: Opaque purple-black
  N: Rhubarb, black cherry, vanilla
  P: Plum, black currant, spice, dark chocolate, hint of tar
  F: very long
  
  Ripe, big, velvety, black, round, almost chalky, sweet tannins. Low acid. Viscous and rich on the palate. There is no mistaking this is from Oz. Surprisingly not OTT, but certainly boardering on it. Excellent for $13. Wish I bought more than the three I did.

  Comment

• JimEaton Likes this wine: 90 points

  January 11, 2013 - The wine looks Violet colored. The legs are Medium. It smells like Blackberry, Cranberry, and Black currant (cassis). It tastes like Blackberry, Blueberry, and Raspberry. The body is Medium. The wine has Silky texture. The wine finishes Medium. I really liked this wine for the price. Very good QPR

  Comment

• jjlobi wrote: 88 points

  December 28, 2012 - My style cab. Deep inky purple. Fruit clearly present. Good lingering finish.

  1 person found this helpful Comment

Pro Reviews 1

Wine Definition

• Vintage 2008
• Type Red
• Producer Kangarilla Road
• Varietal Cabernet Sauvignon
• Designation n/a
• Vineyard n/a
• Country Australia
• Region South Australia
• SubRegion Fleurieu
• Appellation McLaren Vale
• UPC Code 818850002026

Community Holdings

• Pending Delivery 1 (1%)
• In Cellars 65 (41%)
• Consumed 92 (58%)

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