Pikes The Hill Block Cabernet 2021

It’s rare to see a Clare Valley Cabernet Sauvignon of such youth looking so complex, so elegant. Sourced from the Polish Hill River sub-region, high in altitude and blessed with shale, slate and mineral-strong soils, the area brings a sense of purity in fruit expression to many of its wines. This Cabernet is a strong case in point. From a top year, it’s singing in lively local scents: Aussie bush, mint, acacia, briar with dried rosemary. Gotta love the energy that the bush scents bring to the aromatic lift on the bouquet, transforming into a fully integrated palate with cassis, wild black berries, aniseed and gentle leafy herbals. A whisper of vanillin oak and pepper enhances, together with fine-cut tannins. Altogether, an elegant, medium-bodied Cabernet still coming together – feel free to give it more time in bottle – but showing so much style.