Winemaker Notes
Blend: 93% Merlot, 7% Petit Verdot
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Hickinbotham's Bordeaux varieties are made by Napa Winemaker Chris Carpenter. The latest Merlot is up a quality notch from most Down Under. A mélange of cherry, licorice and scrubby Mediterranean herbs and spices is coated in a cola-driven sheen of polished oak. Lighter than others under this label, this is nonetheless a big wine which captures the juicy red fruit via lifted acidity and well-structured, savory tannins. Drink now–2028.
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James Suckling
A bold, plum and spice style with cedary oak and an unmistakably Australian edge. The palate has impressive depth and fresh red-plum flesh with firmish tannins, cradling ripe and zesty red plums. Drink or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
While I'm rarely a fan of Australian Merlot, Hickinbotham does a better job than most with this finicky variety. Its 2017 The Revivalist Merlot is a bit herbal on the nose, blending those green shadings with tomato and red plum scents. In the mouth, it's medium to full-bodied and supple, but with firm acids and a crisp, mouthwatering finish that picks up cedary nuances. It should be uncommonly long-lived—drinking well for up to a decade or so.
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International Wine Cellar
A bold, plum and spice style with cedary oak and an unmistakably Australian edge. The palate has impressive depth and fresh red-plum flesh with firmish tannins, cradling ripe and zesty red plums.
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Wine Spectator
Firm and savory, with good concentration to the toasted herb, cedar and cigar box notes that are muscular and taut. Notes of green tea, rosemary, loam and dried currant linger on the finish.
With generous fruit and supple tannins, Merlot is made in a range of styles from everyday-drinking to world-renowned and age-worthy. Merlot is the dominant variety in the wines from Bordeaux’s Right Bank regions of St. Emilion and Pomerol, where it is often blended with Cabernet Franc to spectacular result. Merlot also frequently shines on its own, particularly in California’s Napa Valley. Somm Secret—As much as Miles derided the variety in the 2004 film, Sideways, his prized 1961 Château Cheval Blanc is actually a blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc.
Known for opulent red wines with intense power and concentration, McLaren Vale is home to perhaps the most “classic” style of Australian Shiraz. Vinified on its own or in Rhône Blends, these hot-climate wines are deeply colored and high in extract with signature hints of dark chocolate and licorice. Cabernet Sauvignon is also produced in a similar style.
Whites, often made from Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc tend to be opulent and full of tropical, stone and citrus fruit.