MOUNT MARY Quintet Cabernet Blend 2006

Robert Parker Score: 94 points

Reviewer: Lisa Perrotti-Brown29/06/2010

Comprised of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot, 17% Cabernet Franc and small proportions of Malbec and Petit Verdot, the 2006 Quintet spent 22 months in barrel, 30% of which was large format and just 30% new oak. Winemaker Rob Hall explained that John Middleton liked this wine to come in at around 12.5% alcohol if at all possible and of course it can be a challenge to get phenolics ripe at this level of lightness. But if anyone can do it in this area, Mount Mary can ? this vintage came in at a modest 12.9%. Deep garnet in color, this wine has restrained aromas of cassis, dried Mediterranean herbs, graphite and loam plus pinches of cardamom and cloves. Light to medium-bodied with high acid and medium-firm finely grained tannins, this wine finishes very long. Its still a little tight knit and needs 2-3 years to open, thereafter evolving through the next 8-10 years and keeping to 2024+. If this caliber of grapes were produced in Bordeaux they would have chaptilised and put a lot more oak on it, blurring this wonderful expression of the land...shame about the filtration though, particularly on such a delicate wine!