Curtis Cavaliere McLaren Vale Cabernet Sauvignon 2021

There’s no missing Cabernet on the nose. Dried Aussie bush leafiness, pastille, dusty violets, black olive brine and savoury bay leaf. There is plenty of joy in the glass. Deeply concentrated, yet not overly weighty fruit. Supple and intense fruit sweetness, lifted thanks to some gentile natural acidity and a little salinity. Oak is charry but very well integrated, and the fruit and its brambly spiced core truly is the star of the show here. Tannins are al-dente, a little more chewy than gravelly. There’s a swell of savoury, silty iodine-laced dark-chocolate that pools into the finish, with a succulent tug giving cause to reach for another sip, despite the plum pudding sweetness. A fantastic, mid-bodied Cabernet with a core of fruit sweetness for days.