Château Tanunda 50 Year Old Vines Cabernet Sauvignon 2019
- 92
- $80
- Drink by: 2023-2033
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Old vine Cabernet is under-represented in the Barossa Valley – indeed, fifty year old Cabernet vines make up less than 2% of all plantings. The vines which provided the grapes for this wine are from Bethany, the first village settled in the Barossa. Similar treatment to the Shiraz, but just 18 months in oak. It seems that Cabernet is more vintage dependent than Shiraz in this region. The colour is dark maroon. The nose offers spices, tobacco leaves, black fruits, coffee grinds, dried herbs and cocoa powder. There are abundant tannins here, giving the wine its firmness. Very good length here, this is a well-structured wine. A little burly at this very early stage, this is undoubtedly a wine which will benefit from a few years in the cellar before opening, and from a good decant when you do. Drink for eight to ten years from there.
Ken was born and bred in Brisbane, Queensland. He had a non-trendy, perfectly happy childhood, in a family convinced alcohol meant instant condemnation to Hades. But a break fishing on the Great Barrier Reef, and some good wine, started a serious obsession that eventually took over. It did not stop Ken being chastised later for drinking Pol champagne, disgusted he’d drink anything made by a Cambodian dictator. Now, Ken mostly writes on wine, champagne and spirits for various newspapers, magazines and books, but is perhaps best known for his work in The Courier Mail. He also has a little sideline writing on cigars, fishing, travel and food. When not writing, fly-fishing for trout in NZ or bonefish on the flats of Cuba, travelling or smoking cigars, he is no doubt following a variety of sporting teams – the occasionally glorious Queensland Reds rugby, the dysfunctional Washington Redskins, the dodgy Arsenal and especially revels in the world restored to its proper axis with the return of the Ashes to their rightful home.
