Birks Wendouree - Cabernet Malbec - 2018

Most often my favourite wine from Wendouree, and why people run for the Shiraz, when the Clare Valley is very clearly a Cabernet (and Malbec) region for reds, is quite beyond me. But I say this every year, though I feel it’s worth saying, every year. Violets and cassis, Aussie bush in earth, bark, pepper and eucalyptus characters, plummy fruit too, beautifully formed and rippling with fine tannin. Excellent length, poise and form, a shapely wine of intensity, minerality and firm texture. Perhaps just that little bit raw? An additional firmness. Anyway, this is a delight and its form and freshness hold it in excellent stead for the future. 95+ Points Mike Bennie, The Wine Front Blackberry, a little tar and earth, violet and leaf. Full-bodied, dark chocolate and tobacco, some orange zest character, tannin a little chalky and rugged, but has a ‘mineral’ feel, and plenty of depth. Length is good too. It’s a very good, if not stellar release of this benchmark wine. It doesn’t have the sweeping ferrous tannin and brooding depth of some years, but does have charm and crisp appeal. 95+ Points Gary Walsh, The Wine Front