Yalumba Menzies Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon 2018
- 94
- $60
- Drink by: 2023-2038
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A classic example of Cabernet Sauvignon from a top vintage and the famous Coonawarra region, this is excellent buying. Maturation took place in a mix of oak – 30% was new French and Hungarian hogsheads with the remainder one-year and older French and Hungarian hogsheads and barriques. The Menzies Estate vineyard is a famous one, having once provided wine which received prime ministerial approval. Inky, near opaque magenta. Spices, chocolate, licorice, vanilla, blackberries, cassis and impressive oak integration. This is a seamless, well-structured wine, a cracking Coonawarra Cabernet from a top vintage with fine but firm tannins and a good line of acidity and concentration. Needs a few years to really hit its straps but should then drink well for another ten to fifteen years thanks to great persistence and early signs of complexity. A case of this in the cellar will bring great rewards. If you want to see what a quintessential Coonawarra Cab looks like, this is for you.
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.
