Clarendon Hills Sandown Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2003

Strutting its stuff at present, the 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon Sandown Vineyard (made from 75-year-old vines) is Bratasiuk's St.-Emilion from McLaren Vale. A wonderfully rich, packed and stacked, dense purple-colored wine, it offers up scents of fruitcake, creme de cassis, underbrush, cedar, and spice box. Full, rich, and powerful, displaying even more potential and intensity than it did last year, this beauty can be approached now, but it won't hit its stride for another 3-4 years. It should last for two decades.