2014 Levantine Hill Estate Mélange Traditionnel Samantha's Paddock

Community Tasting Notes (2) Avg Score: 90 points

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View Rote Kappelle's profile
  • Report Issue

  9/26/2021 - Rote Kappelle Likes this wine: 90 Points

  Under cork, decanted and the note made over about 8 hours. There has been very significant development in that time, all for the better. This is not that good when first opened and it only came into its own around the 6 hour mark.
  
  Colour is quite deep, garnet with perhaps a tinge of brick.
  
  Nose is sour cherry, redcurrant more than cassis to me, hint of cedar and tobacco and cinnamon. Elegant.
  
  Palate is supple, very good length, reasonable intensity and a hint of darker fruits than on the nose. A quite lovely, almost delicate wine, very much in the Bordeaux groove and might well pass for a solid 2nd or 3rd Growth, probably more left bank than right.
  
  The issues with this wine are that it is very expensive for a winery with little real history and it is not the blockbuster that many consumers will expect and want when they pay this sort of money. I suspect European or well educated American palates might be less troubled. For me, their standard Cabernet delivers enough that I find it hard to justify the massive additional cost and compared to other Yarra Valley reds with more history, it is really way over priced - for example it is nearly double the price of Yarra Yering or Yeringberg, it is also about $30-$60 more than Mount Mary. So, a quality wine, but the asking price is stiff.

  Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View RieslingFanatic's profile
  • Report Issue

  7/29/2016 - RieslingFanatic wrote:

  Tobacco, smoke/char, cassis, blueberries and some heat! Smoke and char dominant. Lots of new French oak you feel, and heavily charred too. Think Bdx on the palate - blue fruits, cassis, prominent acidity and tannins. Not worth $150.

  Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

Professional reviews have copyrights and you can view them here for your personal use only as private content. To view pro reviews you must either subscribe to a pre-integrated publication or manually enter reviews below. Learn more.