Craneford Quartet Red Blend 2000

John Zilm is one of the hottest up and coming talents in the Barossa and has a passion for wine that has not seen in too many places. When he shows you his new creations, his face lights up like a kid who just showed his folks a perfect score on a math test. It shows in his wines and the goal for John is simple. He wants the fruit to shine and he wants the wines to deliver rich and supple mouthfilling decadance.

This wine smells of black plums and sweet black cherries with notes of licorice - all in a slightly reductive fashion. The reaction you get when you smell this is that you're about to savor something that's big and very sweet. In the mouth it's vibrant and sweet and perhaps a little deceptive since it's hard to discern exactly which varietal is dominant. Nonetheless it's absolutely delicious and soft easy drinking.

The complex, dark ruby/purple-colored Quartet (an intriguing blend of 30% Petit Verdot, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Shiraz and 15% Cabernet Franc), offers a striking nose of blueberry pie, black currents, fruit cake and subtle oak. It is elegant, pure, medium-bodied yet exceptionally deep and intense. This distinctive wine can be drunk now or cellared for 7-8 years.