Melba Amphora Cabernet Sauvignon 2021

"Deep red with purple in the rim; a complex bouquet of cedar, cigarbox, cassis and flake tobacco, the palate full bodied and elegant, stately and savoury, with abundant fine-grained and insistent tannins and driving length. A very elegant, suave kind of cabernet, and true to its Yarra origins. It's delicious now but has an assured future if cellared."

"Melba Amphora Cabernet Sauvignon. It was only a few years ago, in reference to a premium Margaret River Cabernet matured in amphora, that I stated we had no blueprint for premium Cabernet matured in amphora. We do now, which makes this wine so much easier to understand. The tannins in this 2021 Melba Amphora Cabernet Sauvignon are rounded and mineral, with a splay of fruit that spills outward from the finish. "Fresh, fine and floral" describes this wine, which will no doubt age more gracefully than many may expect. It's lovely and supple and will bring new Cabernet drinkers to the table. This spent four months on skins in 1,000-liter amphorae, before pressing off skins, and then a return for a further six months' maturation."

"Bold colour. Blackcurrant, blackberry, hazelnut, that terracotta-like earthiness you get in many anfora wines, dried flowers and sweet herbs. It’s medium-bodied, intense and deep in black and red fruit, a little tobacco, loads of chewy earthy tannin, and a lively perfumed (and tannic) finish of excellent length. So much energy. Love this."