Tahbilk Old Block Vines BDX 2019

I’ve seen plenty of wines from Tahbilk over the years and there is a common theme in them – generosity of honest to goodness flavour. Partially it comes from the local climate around Nagambie but also quite a traditional Australian winemaking style with a fair dose of savoury fruit in the mix. They’ve also got a decent amount of old vine material to draw on, which never hurts. This wine, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc, was released in part to celebrate the winery’s 160th birthday using some of that old vine fruit. It’s a robust wine clearly built for the cellar with its brooding layers of cocoa, mulberry, blackberry and dark, earthy fruit with old oak plus an attractive cedary edge. Dry and full-bodied, there is good generosity of flavour – particularly tarry blackberries – but it feels a little underpowered. Good acidity and tannins though show it will age well and remain enjoyable for around a decade.