Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon “Ashmead” is sourced from 70-year-old vines yielding a microscopic 0.5 tons per acre. The wine was aged for 18 months in 100% new French hogsheads (300 liter barrels). Purple in color, this sensational Cabernet has a splendid nose of pain grille, graphite, leather, black currant, and blackberry liqueur. Full-bodied and voluptuous with hidden tannins, this beautifully balanced wine will develop with 8-10 years in the cellar and drink well through 2035.
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Wine Spectator
Supple and complex, with rich red cherry, black currant, licorice and mint aromas and flavors, lingering on the focused finish with a layer of mocha from oak.
A noble variety bestowed with both power and concentration, Cabernet Sauvignon enjoys success all over the globe, its best examples showing potential to age beautifully for decades. Cabernet Sauvignon flourishes in Bordeaux's Medoc where it is often blended with Merlot and smaller amounts of some combination of Cabernet Franc, Malbecand Petit Verdot. In the Napa Valley, ‘Cab’ is responsible for some of the world’s most prestigious, age-worthy and sought-after “cult” wines. Somm Secret—DNA profiling in 1997 revealed that Cabernet Sauvignon was born from a spontaneous crossing of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc in 17th century southwest France.
The Barossa Zone encompasses the Barossa Valley and Eden Valley. Some of the oldest vines in Australia can be found here.
Barossa Valley of course is the most important and famous wine growing region in all of Australia where 140+ year-old, dry-farmed Shiraz vines still produce inky, purple and dense juice for some of Australia's best wines.
In the cooler, wetter Eden Valley sub-region, the Hill of Grace vineyard is home to famous Shiraz vines from the 1800s but the region produces also some of Australia’s very best and age-worthy Rieslings.