Paisley Wines Celtic Maeve Shiraz Cabernet 2019
- 92
- $48
- Drink by: 2023-2033
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The great Aussie blend. The two varieties are dealt with separately with fruit, the best the team have, selected in the vineyard. The Shiraz comes from a vineyard at Lyndoch with vines in excess of 80 years; the Cabernet from the slopes of the Barossa Ranges. The parcels are fermented via wild yeasts with hand-plunging several times a day. Whole bunches, time on lees and maturation for more than two years – new American oak for the Shiraz and older French for the Cabernet. Only 800 bottles were made. The name comes from old Celtic and involves the anointing of kings by a goddess whose name means ‘she who intoxicates’. Magenta/purple in colour. A generous style, the aromas move through blackcurrants, aniseed, dry herbs, spices and warm earth which seems to incorporate a saline, soy and beefstock edge. A lovely richness to this wine with abundant tannins, which are a mix of the silky and sandy. Very good length, this is attractive now but it would benefit from a couple of years in the cellar, before providing pleasure over the next decade.
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.
