- $12-$21
- Screwcap
- 14.0%alc
What a delight to see Jacob's Creek issue their Reserve range shmick new labels clearly emblazoned by a region of origin. As an ever curious consumer, the more transparency with regional sourcing the better I say - I mean, I probably wouldn't have bought this wine under the old label.
Jacob's Creek's 2009 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon smells like a joyous little dob of sweet Coonawarra simplicity in a glass. Think ripe black plums and raspberries risen by sweet notes of mint/menthol and a wafer-like expression of creamy vanilla oak to boot. Its nose is only marginally put off by a whiff of alcohol etching alongside its menthol, but unfortunately, its palate doesn't follow through on the fragrant promise. There's some winemaking polish on show in its initial push of creamy oak driven black/redcurrant flavour, but then it hits a bump in the movement, first by revealing a raw edge to its fruit, and then by finishing loose and fractionally thin with lingering nuances of both the baked and sweet 'n' sour kind. Structure doesn't help out either. To track this wine as a curve...
X It appears I was overly optimistic on this one. I had grand visions of a mini-St Hugo I did. But on drinking, those visions folded faster than Superman on laundry day*. Drink to 2014.
85 points