2005 Clarendon Hills Cabernet Sauvignon Hickinbotham Vineyard
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Tasting notes
The most backward and structured of the Cabernet offerings is the 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Hickinbotham Vineyard sourced from 50-year-old vines. It is a glass-coating opaque purple with complex aromas of new oak, smoke, espresso roast, chocolate, blackberry, and black currant. Full-bodied, opulent and intensely flavored, the wine has great depth and enough structure to permit a decade of evolution. This lengthy effort should provide pleasure through 2035. Importer: E. & J. Gallo Winery, Modesto, CA; www.clarendonhills.com.au
Critic scores
Josh Raynolds
Jay S Miller, Wine Advocate
More reviews and scores
Ruby-red. Slow-building, exotic bouquet of ripe cherry, blackcurrant, Cuban tobacco, violet and black pepper. Supple blackcurrant and bitter cherry flavors gain depth with air, taking a liqueur-like dark berry turn but maintaining focus. Youthfully firm tannins add grip to the impressively long, juicy finish. Plenty sweet and seductive now but I'd give this some time in bottle to loosen up.
About the producer
Based in the McLaren Vale, Clarendon Hills has been one of the pioneering names in Australian wine. Focusing on single-site expressions of individual grapes, working with old dry-farmed vineyards, it has become one of the world’s leading producers, best known for its iconic Astralis Shiraz.