- Mudgee, NSW - $37-$53
- Screwcap
- 14.0%alc
It's such a shame that what could be the Mudgee region's flag bearing wine, Rosemount Mountain Blue, lies in a tangled mess of corporate ownership within one of Australia's least fashionable wine brands. I couldn't help but smile recently when an independent retailer told me; "I get all these guys coming in with black Wynns shirts but if I stock Rosemount they'd hit me in the face with it." Looking beyond these points, the Mountain Blue is actually capable of a standard equal to the very best shiraz cabernet sauvignons.
Brought to life by a complex unison of gravelly earth and boot polish aromas, the 2006 Mountain Blue seems so classically Australian in its old fashioned shiraz cabernet nose. With shiraz clearly in the driver's seat it puts up a bright, evenly ripened yet proudly meaty fragrance of dark currant fruits tickled by light, airy spices; with oak playing a heady yet smoothly courteous role, possibly more suggestive of American wood than French. These aromatic features transfer almost perfectly into its flavour profile, which courses along a very smooth, utterly seamless medium-bodied palate coated by rich chocolate oak and completed with lingering, sour-edged meaty aspects and a surprisingly lithe, fair structure that speaks more of zippy acids than coarse tannin.
ü The 2006 Mountain Blue seems a very good, methodically conceived Aussie red; more than perfect for red meat dishes, but it just lacks that something special in the way of structure, length and finesse. Ye olde warm climate Mudgee can definitely pull this style off though. Drink to 2018.
92 points
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