Juniper Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, Margaret River, Australia

杜松莊園系列赤霞珠干紅葡萄酒

點擊次數(shù)：5612

The 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon was released to eye-watering reviews—how could anyone forget—and so it is with great interest and anticipation that I look in on this wine today, some eight years after harvest and perhaps five years from release. On the nose, there are the typical dark/milk chocolate characters that this wine has shown over the years, backed by dark forest fruits and exotic spice. The wine is a product of the season, which was an interesting one and hard to characterize: cool at times and wet at times (although the white harvest began very early, as January was warm). The Cabernets to me have felt somewhat backward generally—not all, of course—and I can never decide whether these wines should be consumed in their youth or far later down the track. This wine gives me no further clarity on that point. This is a lovely wine, with plenty of time left, but it's also drinking nicely now. A quiet wine. 13.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.

2014 is one of my favorite Cabernet vintages in Margaret River (2001 was pretty excellent too...), and so it is always with great pleasure that I open bottles from this year and check in on them. Here, the 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon displays all the attributes of the year: effortless red fruit, a splay of exotic spice embedded into the tannin, a spectrum of nori/tobacco leaf/fresh bay leaf/cassis/raspberry and even a hint of star anise. I love this vintage, all over again, through the lens of this Juniper Estate Cabernet Sauvignon. Really. A vintage for the ages. 14% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.

The 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon is purple and bright: the fruit is now firmly on the young end of the spectrum and speaks of the classic cassis/ bay leaf/brine/black olive/blackberry/mulberry persuasion. The tannins are folded into the layers of flavor here, and while they are firm and ductile, they do not intrude in any way. This is buxom and enveloping, as are many of the 2013 Cabernets from Margaret River, and that quality is holding it in very good stead here today. It is luscious, with fresh acidity and a clear finish. 14% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.

We start to see an odd year/even year pattern emerge around this 2008/2010/2012 trio. Each were vintages of very high quality, and the resultant wines share a finesse, seamlessness and grace that is a pleasure to witness. Here, the 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon is populated by purple mulberry/cassis/raspberry and blackberry, while the spice component sits firmly on the black end of the spectrum. There is star anise and clove, black pepper and dark chocolate (again, a reoccurring theme within these wines). A vital wine here, it is utterly primary and fresh. 14% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.

The 2011 vintage was a warm one in Margaret River, in stark contrast to the heavy rainfall experienced by much of South Australia/Victoria (and to some extent Tasmania). In fact, many other regions were tarred by that same wet brush, when in actual fact, the conditions in Western Australia were very good to excellent. So, this 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon is ripe and full; the fruit and the tannins are as one in the glass. While the heat is evident in the plush array of forest berries and fruitcake spice, there is little in the way of overripe characters—far from it. The tannins are ductile and firm. The wine was matured in French oak for 15 months. 14% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.