Western Australia Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot 1996 - Howard Park – 14% alc. (Matured for 26 months in new French oak barriques)
I am always interested to track a wine’s development and the more so in this case since when I posted the TN below in August 2007, Graeme Gee advised that this Cab/Merlot has the reputation of being a graceful ager and said that my comments sounded like a wine still too young.
C: Deep with the merest suspicion of bricking at the rim. N: A well developed almost blowsy bouquet with ripe and rich red fruit notes laced with touches of vanilla; at first I noted some herbaceous and asparagus touches, which I like, but they were soon overwhelmed by the other elements. P: This enters the palate “forte”, if not “fortissimo” like many of its compatriots. Full and rich with deep ripe jammy fruit, touches of chocolate with soft ripe tannic structure, well integrated hints of fine wood and reasonable acid balance and length.
All the elements are there so it is difficult to describe why I did not really like this wine. First, jammy is not really my thing; blind, I would have thought the Merlot content much higher than the 15-30% claimed in Halliday’s guide. Second, there was an absence of that elusive quality, classy elegance, and of its components like minerality, fragrant acidity, pencil shavings, cigar box and, more controversially, a less forward shape in the mouth, firmer tannins and even leather which grace many of the Cabernet derived wines which I love.
I actually preferred the wine’s showing next day when loss of bloom seemed to lead to greater harmony. (Aug 28, 2007)
How did it show last week? Three and a half years extra ageing has toned down some of the jamminess, smoothed out the palate shape (less up-front) and contributed some attractive secondary notes of old book. However I still found the fruit somewhat simplistic (mainly black currant) and sweeter than I like and still missed those components which I outlined under “Second” above; but perhaps I am wrong in wanting it to taste more like claret. I can believe that a few more years may finally make the wine truly harmonious and interestingly complex in its own style but have no bottles left to test this theory. At present 16/20 at most.