Winemaker Notes
This wine is great with fish, white meats, red meats, salads and cheeses. Optimum drinking: now - 4 years.
"The 2005 Maitre d' Cabernet (32% from Padthaway and 68% from Langhorne Creek) was aged in a combination of American and French oak, 40% of which was new. It is a superb Cabernet Sauvignon offering creamy creme de cassis notes intermixed with hints of licorice, new wood, and spice box. Full-bodied with great intensity, purity, density, and opulence as well as a voluptuous texture, rich mid-palate, and long, full-bodied, supple finish displaying notions of roasted coffee and white chocolate, it is hard to believe Cabernet Sauvignon can hit this level of quality at this price point. These wines are meant to be consumed young, but it is hard to believe these knock-out reds won't last for 5-10 years. Two more expensive Mollydooker cuvees will be reviewed in my full Australian report in the October issue."
-Wine Advocate
Professional Ratings
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.
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.