Tyson Stelzer 96 points!
Australian Wine Review 96 points!
"Deep Ruby colour. Aromatics of Chinese plum blossom, blackberry and clove woven with whispers of cedar. A complex wine driven by terroir and a vintage of tremendous quality. Ripe dark cherry and cassis characters with seamles selegance, fine tannic structure and perfect natural balance."
Domaine A
Wine Front 94 points!"Smaller grapes are selected, with more skin to juice ratio, so better concentration of phenolics and colour, rationalises Althaus. 'It's the smallest berries and thickest skins', he says. Domaine A sees only new oak, and at least two years, but in this case three years. Althaus admits, 'I was big fan of Bordeaux wines, when the prices of the good Bordeaux wines went through the roof, I figured there was somewhere in the world that I could make an equivalent. Made in the same way as Mouton and Latour, I had and have been talking to these guys to understand what might be best, and after looking to New Zealand, south of Chile, south of Argentina, we looked to Tasmania " and after have never regretted since'.
A rippling wine of great presence and inward concentration. Gleaming with shiny, dark, unctuous fruit and dried herb/leafy characters and powered by tight, grainy tannins, this is a wine that coats the palate and leaves its complex array of flavours hanging around. Fuller bodied than expected, bright too, and a gentle tug of age mellowing the wine's fringes. Idiosyncratic feel, personality imbued, finely wrought, feels detailed and a good experience. Drink 2013-2028."
Mike Bennie, Wine Front, 12 March 2013.
Australian Wine Review 96 points!"Domaine A is something of an enigma in the world of Australian wine.
Run by Peter Althaus, it remains one of the barest handful of Tasmanian vineyards that can successfully ripen Bordeaux varieties, and does so with such aplomb that you begin to question why there isn't more 'down there'. His fume/white Bordeaux style Sauvignon - Lady A - is easily the most ageworthy in the country too, not typically hitting its peak until at least 5 years after vintage. It is a Bordeaux variety focused winery, in a region dedicated to Burgundian grapes.
As for this wine, Peter believes it to be closest to the legendary 2000 vintage - and I'm not going to disagree. It has a certain precision, vitality and unquestioned length, all contained in a perfect package, that signals a wine of very high quality. So perfect is that shape and form, and so plainly refreshing a wine it is, I'd have no hesitation in calling this Australia's best Cabernet Sauvignon.
What I most like is that Cabernet varietal character - sappy, leafy, unashamedly not all about simple fruit. Heck, there is even mint in there too (the horror. The horror!). That nose is beguiling actually, a perfectly expressive, leafy Cabernet-errific nose. I could smell it all day.
Unsurprisingly, this is a mid weight wine too. Spicy and detailed, it is driven by cedary, willowy savouriness, the blackcurranty fruit characters complexed by long barrel ageing which gives texture
and cocoa bitter sweetness and an overlay of roast lamb and rosemary. The real highlight though is the finish - those long, almost delicate tannins and high acidity mark this as a wine of some perfection, the tannins silently encroaching around you like ninjas in a dark alley. If I was Robert Parker I'd be talking about how this lingers for minutes, for it does. Minutes. Wow.
Stunning stuff. Get some.
Andrew Graham, ozwinereview.com, March 7 2013.
Tyson Stelzer 96 points!
"Tasmanian winemakers refer to Domaine A as the only true chateau of the island state, and its the sheer Bordeaux-like longevity of this remarkable cabernet blend that confirms it. Even the earliest vintages of this label from the early 1990s are still but half way through their life. The 2006 has a similar future before it, powerfully structured with a wall of firm, finely structured tannins that scream out for a very long time to soften and integrate. Even at eight years of age on release, it's only slowly developing secondary roast capsicum and toasty notes amidst its powerful, meaty, savoury nuances of tomato leaf, tobacco, berry fruits and game. It holds its balance in the midst of its tannin onslaught, with lively Tasmanian acidity keeping things fresh. For the record, 90% cabernet sauvignon, 4% merlot and 2% petit verdot, built for the long-haul with 30 months of maturation in 100% new French oak barrels."
Tyson Stelzer, Wine Taste Weekly, Wine Taste Edition 139 Jan 2014
Country:
Australia
Region:
TAS (Tasmania)
Variety:
Wine Red - Cabernet
Size:
750mL
