Shaw Vineyard Estate Reserve Merriman Cabernet Sauvignon 2016

You have got to be careful with Canberra cabernet. It is not the easiest grape to grow near the nation’s capital and it requires some serious dedication and hard work to get it right, which Shaw Vineyard Estate have done here.

Here you have some classic cool climate cabernet characters – perfumed red and blackcurrant fruits with violets thrown in and quality oak sitting underneath. It is elegant and understated in the mouth with layers of leafy cedar and blackberry fruits well integrated with some well integrated tannins. It is close to peak but everything is in place so it will easily last past its tenth birthday.