Mount Mary Quintet 2016

Mount Mary Quintet 2016

It’s only 46% Cabernet Sauvignon, with 26% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, 5% Malbec and 3% Petit Verdot. A different wine to the (relatively) throaty 2015, but not a lesser one.

Such perfume. Such finesse. It’s a flat out joy to smell, and to taste. Violets, cedar, red and black fruits, tobacco, pencils, marzipan and aniseed. Just into medium-bodied, well-etched and sure-footed, much like the kitten, who’s tongue the tannin sports. Delightful flavour of small red (mainly) and black berries, deft and precise, with a finish that’s long and crisp, which leaves no doubt about the quality of this wine. Line and length. Fragrance and poise. Subtle, yet thoroughly persuasive. Gentle rasp of tannin cleans the mouth. It’s a rare bird, this Cabernet. 97 Points - Gary Walsh, The Wine Front.

Given the warmth of the season, the 2016 Quintet shows a lusty, throaty openness aromatically. It offers cassis, bramble, black cherry, layers of star anise and sweet roasted meats on the nose. In the mouth, the wine is perhaps more obvious and dark-fruited than usual, and this will set it up very well indeed for earlier drinking. It's a lovely wine without a shadow of a doubt, but one geared toward drinking earlier rather than cellaring longer. It'll age, no question, but since it's ready earlier than the other vintages, why not open sooner? 13.2% alcohol, sealed under natural cork. 95 Points - Erin Larkin, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate