2005 Mount Mary Quintet Lilydale Cabernets
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Tasting notes
Single vineyard wine. 48% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Merlot, 18% Cabernet Franc, 5% Malbec, 3% Petit Verdot. 20 months in 100% new French oak. 'Benchmark for Victoria', according to Robert Mann. Medium garnet. Quite sweet and red fruited on the nose at first but then more cassis with aeration and a little smoky and floral, but still pretty restrained. Finely structured with tannins so beautifully textured you barely notice them but they give the wine shape. Very fresh and silky and persistent. Easy to underestimate. (JH)
Critic scores
Julia Harding MW, jancisrobinson.com
Josh Raynolds
More reviews and scores
Deep red. Strikingly complex nose melds redcurrant, dark cherry, licorice and smoky minerals, along with a suave tobacco overtone. Bright red berry flavors are complemented by blood orange and graphite, with silky tannins lending subtle shape and lift. Pure, understated and precise, with excellent finishing sweetness and focus. Really lovely balance here. I recently drank a bottle of 1998 Quintet that offered suave red fruit, silky texture and wonderfully sweet, mineral-driven persistence. It showed no signs of age and years of further development potential. After five days in the recorked bottle it was redolent of cigar box, fresh redcurrant and cherry, with an iron-rich finish that reminded me of a great Pauillac.