2019 Mount Mary Vineyard, Quintet, Yarra Valley, Australia
Critics reviews
Drink 2021 - 2033
Jancis Robinson, jancisrobinson.com (Sep 2021)
James Suckling, jamessuckling.com (Oct 2021)
About this WINE
Mount Mary Vineyard
Mount Mary has an exalted reputation in the wine world and has accrued a somewhat cult following. Established in the Yarra Valley in 1971, with an annual production of around 3,000 cases, it continues the legacy of its founding father, winemaker Dr John Middleton -who died aged 82 on 27 June 2006- to produce superbly refined, powerful Cabernets and elegant, long-lived Pinot Noirs. The Triolet blend and Chardonnay are two superb offerings from the white stable. It's just a pity so little is made!
Yarra Valley
Victoria’s oldest viticultural area dates back to 1837. Initially it won admiration and trophies for its dry wines before losing out first to the fortifieds from South Australia, and then to the dairy cow. The 1960s saw its revival with Dr Bailey Carrodus founding Yarra Yering in 1969, closely followed by another medic, Dr John Middleton, launching Mount Mary in 1971.
Famous for its Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, the region has attracted interest from sparkling houses, notably Domaine Chandon as well as from one or two corporates; Melbourne’s continued sprawl represents the biggest threat to this Victorian idyll.
The climate is cool maritime (it’s just 15 miles to the ocean), exposed to wind and rain with spring frosts a potential risk. The region’s warmer northerly aspects are preferred for viticulture. The best soils are underpinned by a low vigour, red-brown clay subsoil, while a significant swathe of the region is characterised by vigorous deep-red loam.
Recommended producers: Toolangi, Mount Mary
Cabernet Sauvignon
The most famous red wine grape in the world and one of the most widely planted.
It is adaptable to a wide range of soils, although it performs particularly well on well-drained, low-fertile soils. It has small, dusty, black-blue berries with thick skins that produce deeply coloured, full-bodied wines with notable tannins. Its spiritual home is the Médoc and Graves regions of Bordeaux where it thrives on the well-drained gravel-rich soils producing tannic wines with piercing blackcurrant fruits that develop complex cedarwood and cigar box nuances when fully mature.
The grape is widely planted in California where Cabernet Sauvignon based wines are distinguished by their rich mixture of cassis, mint, eucalyptus and vanilla oak. It is planted across Australia and with particular success in Coonawarra where it is suited to the famed Terra Rossa soil. In Italy barrique aged Cabernet Sauvignon is a key component in Super Tuscans such as Tignanello and Sassicaia, either on its own or as part of a blend with Sangiovese.
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Description
The 2019 Quintet is made from 44% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 16% Cabernet Franc, 5% Malbec and 5% Petit Verdot. The wine has a light, elegant nose of fresh but ripe blackcurrants followed by a layered palate of creamy, sweet blackberry fruit. There is a fine, gravel core to this with a leafy hint of the Cabernet Franc coming through, adding freshness. This is a mineral and pure New World expression of a Bordeaux blend, and one which is both beautifully sophisticated and wonderfully harmonious. Drink 2022-2032.
Catriona Felstead MW, Senior Wine Buyer, Berry Bros. & Rudd (Dec 2021)
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