Briar Ridge Big Bully Cabernet Sauvignon 2021

If the name doesn’t appeal, the wine certainly will which hails from the Stonefields Vineyard in Wrattonbully. By Wrattonbully standards, this is a big wine: big in personality, on the bigger side alcohol-wise (14.7%) and super concentrated in fruit power. But a bully? Well, not really. To release some of that pent-up intensity, give your glass a swish or two and you’ll note the rise of some lovely aromatics – violet and blueberry – which bring added freshness and vitality. The wine is all the better for it. Wild berries, earth, briar, vanilla pod, cigar box aromas are deep and dark. On the palate it’s a solid, sturdy wine, sustained by a veritable fortress of Cabernet tannins. It’s going to love a lot more time in bottle, a lot more. Sitting in the background, patiently, are some attractive leafy, herbal characters in sage, rosemary and savoury jalapeno.