Birks Wendouree - Cabernet Malbec - 2017

Good old Cab Malbec, the wine for the cognoscenti (in which I generously include myself). For whatever reason, I’ve noted more than a passing resemblance to Te Mata Estate Coleraine this vintage. So refined, so beautiful to smell. Pencils, violet, cocoa and aniseed, plum and blackcurrant. Svelte, perfumed and pure of fruit, cool mineral acid line, tannin spreads out with a comforting cocoa warmth, slight hedgerow and edge, but carries it off. Runs cool and long, glassy acidity in the finish, perhaps ever so edgy, but carries it off with style. Less thunder and earth, more perfume, spring rain and cool nights, if you take my meaning. Different, but wonderful. 96+ Points Gary Walsh, The Wine Front