Birks Wendouree - Cabernet Sauvignon - 2016

From 1971 and 2002 plantings, so in the Wendouree world, young vines! I’m lead to believe that the maximum purchase of both the Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon is six bottles. Dozens are OK for the rest, at least if your name is Fluffy Hair Adair. Blackcurrant, blackberry, cherry, aniseed and vanilla nougat. Medium bodied, fresh and bright, and has what you might call a ‘high tensile’ feel, kind of like a wire pulled very tight, the way it runs through the mouth. Iron. Steel. Tannin is assertive, but not uncompromising, and the way it surges through the finish line is both athletic, and impressive. It’s not as easy to love as the Malbec or Cabernet Malbec, but the quality is equally high. Less flesh, more bone structure. A wine for aesthetes, perhaps. Age will most certainly not weary it. As it takes the air in the glass, it fills out and flexes most impressively. Drink 2024-2049. 96+ Points Gary Walsh, The Wine Front.