Birks Wendouree - Cabernet Malbec - 2022

The 2023 Cabernet Malbec leads with a nose punctuated by bay leaf and violets, sweet tobacco and mint, raspberry coulis and cassis bramble. This is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (62%) and Malbec (38%) from 1920 and 1940 Eastern vineyard plantings and 1971 Western vineyard plantings, and the Cabernet adds an extra layer of perfume and fragrance here, giving freshly turned earth and wet forest notes. It is beautiful. On the palate, the wine is succulent and yet lean, the tannins almost sappy in their pliability, yet they send the wine down a long and winding path in the mouth. This is sensational, and it occurs to me that while we tend to salivate over the old leafy Australian clarets from the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s, this is the modern-day iteration of those wines. It is evocative and old school in the most classical of ways and closes with rose petal, ironstone and graphite. Last year, it had slightly more Malbec, and so the Cabernet character feels favorably pronounced. 97+ Points Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate