- Margaret River, WA - $65
- Screwcap
- 13.5%alc
Woodlands issue the Reserve de la Cave label to an occasionally spectacular, rather scarce trio of (typically) single barrel selections of estate grown pinot noir, cabernet franc and malbec, all of which are sourced from a vineyard planted between 1975 and 1977. At their best, the Reserve de la Cave Malbec and Cabernet Franc surpass all of their Australian counterparts.
Blessed by vividly ripened, slightly sinister yet even aromas of cassis and purple fruits with a deft touch of fragrant, classy cedar oak, the 2010 Reserve de la Cave Malbec hits a beautiful air of perfumed, floral quality, that's as attractive for its brightness as it is for its balance and restraint. Throughout the mouth it manages to be luxuriantly silky within a definitively medium-full bodied framework, whilst its impact is best felt through an incredible depth of flavour. For all its depth and power, it's also harmonious and wonderfully controlled, as its youthful, concentrated dark berry fruits are drawn with outstanding persistence, focus and a valid gamey meatiness long into the mouth. To complete the picture, there's a damn sexy extract of tightly woven acids and beautifully disciplined, ultra-fine tannins, which coil together and work like a team. As a drinking wine, there's an awful lot of high points and absolutely nothing to bitch about.
ü+ The 2010 Reserve de la Cave Malbec contains the picture perfect composition of perfume, texture, depth and fine-grained structure which essentially no one else in Australia can achieve with the variety. It's an immaculate malbec. I wonder what the chances of Woodlands making 2 barrels are... Drink to 2024.
96 points
Interesting: high praise indeed for an Aussie malbec! I need to try this wine :) Suspect tracking down bottles, if there's one barrel, is going to be hard ...
ReplyDeleteCheers
Sean
Sean,
ReplyDeleteIt's a beautiful, plush malbec that has all the hallmarks of a deliciously modern Australian take on a Bordeaux variety. Normally I'm a cabernet franc man, but I just couldn't split the difference between Woodlands' pair this year.
You're right about the difficulty of tracking down bottles :( I suspect the best (perhaps only?) way of tracking them down is to join Woodlands mailing list, as my experience tells me they sell out within a matter of weeks of release. For a Bordeaux-lover like yourself though mate, it's probably well worth it ;)
Cheers,
Chris P
p.s. don't know if it's just my computer, but when I've tried I've been unable to post comments on G.O. for a couple of weeks/months now. :(
Ah, now I'm going to have to sign up aren't I? I just got on Wendouree's list actually, and I must say the prices are almost shockingly low :) And thanks re no comments being possible. It may be a computer setting, or a blogger "known issue". Either way, my IT support team, aka Google, has no solution. But really appreciate your comments, so don't give up!
ReplyDeleteCheers
Sean
Cheers
Sean
I never give up without a fight Sean :)
ReplyDeleteGreat write-up, I am a big believer in commenting on blogs to inform the blog writers know that they’ve added something worthwhile to the world wide web!..
ReplyDeleteWeb Development