Tapanappa Whalebone Vineyard Merlot Cabernet Franc 2019
- 95
- $90
- Drink by: 2024-2040
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Question: do you plan to drink this Wrattonbully red soon? If yes, then some advice. It needs air – a lot of swishing of air in the glass or, better still, a decant – and then watch it open. While five years-old, this charming Merlot Cabernet Franc remains very young at heart and tight in structure. It has plans of its own and they involve a lengthy stay in bottle. Still, with some air, the tension lessens and there’s much to delight in. Aromas in plum, blueberry, black cherry, anise, sage, bay leaf, new leather. There’s a savouriness to the palate, a kind of jalapeño like-pepperiness and earthiness with black fruits, complimented by florals and spice. Quite an exotic touch. Tannins are firm and they’re there for a reason. So much here to take in, consider, enjoy, debate. Don’t you just love a wine that gets you thinking? So good on a number of levels. POSTSCRIPT: This was even better on day two!
Jeni Port is one of Australia’s top wine communicators. Based in Melbourne, Jeni created the first wine column in the (then) Sun News-Pictorial before moving over to The Age and becoming that paper’s longest-serving wine writer. Over the years she has written for most Australian wine magazines and these days calls WinePilot home. She is also a Tasting Panel member on the Halliday Wine Companion. She was named Wine Communicator of the Year and Legend of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival in 2014 and in 2018 Legend of the Vine. She is a founding board member of Australian Women In Wine and is the co-deputy chair of Australia’s Wine List of the Year Awards and China’s Wine List of the Year Awards.
