Winemaker Notes
Deep dark red color. Aromas of currants, blueberry and juniper, bouquet garni and fresh earth. The palate is built on lots of fresh blue and red fruits. Bright flavours with energy and verve, along with hints of dusty earth, weave through the mid-palate with complexing notes of bay leaf, juniper and green tobacco leaf. Acid is fresh but balanced whilst tannins kick in mid palate and run long with the fruit prolife. Notes of coffee grounds and chocolate add complexity through the finish.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
From the cooler McLaren Vale (when compared to the Barossa), the 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Sexy Beast sports a saturated purple color as well as a beautiful perfume of blue fruits, menthol, incense, and spring flowers. It's juicy, medium-bodied, and elegant on the palate, with a fresh, focused texture. It's a sexy little wine to drink over the coming 4-5 years.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The classically styled 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Sexy Beast features hints of mint and cocoa on the nose, alongside cassis and baking spices. It's medium to full-bodied, with a certain amount of varietal reserve, meaning it doesn't completely fill the mouth or coat the palate like Shiraz but shows a crisp, linear and well-defined finish.
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Wine Enthusiast
This medium-weight wine expresses lots of varietal character. Cab lovers will dig the savory, herbal, pencil lead and vanilla tones that weave into red fruit and florals. Sandy textured tannins hold the fruit, warm stone and earthy flavors together, and things finish on an herbal touch. The oak rears its head a little on the finish.
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.