Richmond Grove Limited Release Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon 1998
Opened last night when we had a friend around for dinner, this excellent wine has not suffered from standing on the bench for 24 hours. Apart from the ridiculous "limited release" tag on the front label, this is the real deal, coming from an era when Orlando had employed the legendary John Vickery (of Leo Buring fame) to head their winemaking team at the old Leo Buring winery at Tanunda in the Barossa Valley. The decision to hand someone with Vickery's reputation the generic Richmond Grove label was hard to fathom at the time. Orlando should have employed someone with a brain to come up with something a whole lot better, as the high quality of this wine was probably all but wasted on the few people who had insight on the contents of the bottle. I wonder if Orlando are going down a similar path attaching Jacob's Creek labels to their premium Steingarten Riesling and the like.
Cork sealed and 12.5% A/V. Deep red with some lightening in the edges but holds a solid dark core. Earthy, weedy nose with some green olive and plenty of blackcurrant underneath with a perplexing top note of violets to lift the bouquet into a higher category. A hefty dose of tarry, savoury wood complete's a very fine aromatic profile. The palate excels with medium weight, lovely balance, sensational earthy blackcurrant fruit, a nice lick of integrated acid, most pleasing texture, schmick delineation and a terrific savoury tannic finish of considerable carry and authority. This is an extremely classy Coonawarra red that has plenty of petrol in the tank. In a good cellaring enviroment, it should keep for another ten years. 92 points. For anyone who's interested, it equates in style and quality to a somewhat older very good Bordeaux second/third growth ... e.g. something 1985/6ish ... St Julien or Margaux. Great effort!