cabernet sauvignon – BoozeMonkey

Shottesbrooke Single Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon

Shottesbrooke Vineyard in McLaren Vale goes back over 30 years to when founder Nick Holmes planted his first vineyard, naming it after a UK estate in Berkshire where his granddad was vicar for 21 years from 1905.

And today Shottesbrooke is turning out some real classics under the stewardship of Winemaker Hamish Maguire, Nick’s stepson.

His recently released 2012 Single Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon is a terrific drop which is everything a great Cabernet Sauvignon aspires to be – toasty oak, blackcurrant, chocolate and hints of mint… a marvellous match with slow-cooked lamb shanks, buttered baby potatoes and steamed beans.

Angus the Bull Cabernet Sauvignon 2013

When Aussie beef lovers make a Cabernet Sauvignon one of the country’s most sought-after reds to go with their favourite cut, it’s saying something when the winemaker says he’s let-loose his “most accomplished release to date…”

But that’s what Hamish MacGowan had to say of his 2013 Angus the Bull Cabernet Sauvignon, a drop made from fruit hand-selected off some of the most outstanding vineyards in Victoria’s Goulburn Valley (69%), Heathcote (15%), Strathbogie Ranges (10%) and Central Victoria (6%).

Medium to full-bodied, this is a cracker red with firm tannins, overflowing with blackberry and mulberry flavours, made purely to put on the table with your favourite steak.

2013 St Mary’s Carillon

There are a couple of interesting things about the Mulligan family and their St Mary’s Vineyard, 15km to the west of Penola in South Australia.

One is that they’re on land that’s made up of Terra Rossa soil over limestone just like their neighbouring Coonawarra, yet they’re defined officially as within the Limestone Coast. The other is their unusual – and rewarding – Carillon label which is made up of Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Cabernet Franc and Merlot.

In 1985 Barry and Glenys Mulligan planted their first grapes, reaping the pioneering rewards in 1990. They made their first Carillon blend in 1999, giving it the name after the dictionary definition of carillon as “a collection of bells (in their case ‘Belles’?) that work in harmony to produce something special…”

The newest-release 2013 St Mary’s Carillon is an interesting wine offering up suggestions of tobacco, cedar, plum and raisin flavours which makes it a good match with red meats, or a hearty casserole.