Terre à Terre Crayères Reserve 2018
- 96
- $90
- Drink by: 2022-2042
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The pinnacle from the team at Terre à Terre, this is a blend of 58% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Shiraz and 11% Cabernet Franc, selected from the best parcels from the Crayères Vineyard in Wrattonbully, which is planted on terra rossa soil. All hand harvested, though on different dates, with the picking dependent on their ripeness. The Cabernet Sauvignon in this vineyard was planted in 2004 and the other two varieties in 2008. The wine is then made at the Tiers Winery in the Adelaide Hills, with the grapes crushed, destemmed and then transferred to potter fermenters, before subsequently to French oak barrels, 74% of which were new, for nine months. Blended together in a five-year-old 4,000-litre French oak foudre and then matured for another nine months. 700 six-packs.
Near opaque in colour, this cracking wine gives intense and plush aromas of black cherries and plums. Cloves, leather, aniseed, blackberries, spices and chocolate. Seamless and supple, this has impressive length and very fine, silky tannins. Intense but finely balanced, it retains its elegance throughout with more dark chocolate notes emerging on the palate. This is terrific now but will easily give you 15 to 20 years more pleasure, if you can keep your hands off it.
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.
