95

50 Year Old Vines Cabernet Sauvignon 2019

$80.00 / bottle

TASTING NOTES

Deep magenta in colour with a vibrant nose of dark fruit, chocolate, vanilla and cinnamon aromas. An exotic and full-bodied palate driven by flavours of fruits of the forest, blackcurrant and a hint of savoury spice bound together by succulent fine-grained tannins. A wine of great length which will reward many years in the cellar.

WINEMAKING

The grapes are destemmed, but not crushed, and spend seven days on their skins in open fermenters with twice daily hand-plunging and pumping over of the cap to more gently extract colour, flavours and tannins. This is followed by careful basket pressing and malolactic fermentation in a combination of new and seasoned French barriques prior to 18 months of maturation in our cellars.

In keeping with our non-interventionalist winemaking style, we neither fine nor filter this wine.

VINIFICATION

50 Year Old Cabernet Sauvignon Vines represents less than 2% of the region plantings. Our vineyard is from the heart of the Valley Floor in Bethany – where the first village was settled in the Barossa Valley and the first vines in the Barossa Valley were planted.

GOLD MEDAL: Global Cabernet Masters 2022, The Drinks Business
95 POINTS: Sam Kim, Wine Orbit
93 POINTS: Aaron Brasher, Huon Hooke’s The Real Review
94 POINTS: Andrew Caillard MW

Specifications

Region

Region

Barossa - Bethany

Maturation

Maturation

18 months new and seasoned French barrique

Grape Variety

Grape Variety

Cabernet Sauvignon

Closure

Closure

Cork

Winemaker

Winemaker

Neville Rowe

Alcohol

Alcohol

14.50%

Reviews

Global Cabernet Masters 2022, The Drinks Business

GOLD MEDAL

95 POINTS

Sam Kim, Wine Orbit

Wonderfully fruited and fragrant, showing cassis, spicy oak, thyme and rich floral aromas, leading to a concentrated palate that's sumptuous and delicious. The wine is splendidly complex with richly textured mouthfeel and grainy tannins, finishing robust and persistent. At its best: now to 2037.

94 POINTS

Andrew Caillard MW

Medium deep crimson. Intense dark chocolate dark berry aromas with roasted hazelnut, hint tobacco notes. Generously concentrated with abundant choco-berry fruits, fine velvety textures and integrated mocha, roasted hazelnut notes. Builds up to a claret-like finish with inky/ chinotto/ mineral notes. A very attractive wine with very good fruit complexity, density and structure. Cork seal. Drink now – 2034

93 POINTS

Aaron Brasher, Huon Hooke's The Real Review

92 POINTS

Ken Gargett

Old vine Cabernet is under-represented in the Barossa Valley – indeed, fifty year old Cabernet vines make up less than 2% of all plantings. The vines which provided the grapes for this wine are from Bethany, the first village settled in the Barossa. Similar treatment to the Shiraz, but just 18 months in oak. It seems that Cabernet is more vintage dependent than Shiraz in this region. The colour is dark maroon. The nose offers spices, tobacco leaves, black fruits, coffee grinds, dried herbs and cocoa powder. There are abundant tannins here, giving the wine its firmness. Very good length here, this is a well-structured wine. A little burly at this very early stage, this is undoubtedly a wine which will benefit from a few years in the cellar before opening, and from a good decant when you do. Drink for eight to ten years from there.

91 POINTS

Dave Brookes, Halliday Wine Companion

Cabernet sauvignon sourced from a 50yo vineyard in Bethany, matured in new and seasoned French barriques for 18 months. Rich cassis and blackcurrant characters are underscored by dark spice, tobacco, licorice, dark chocolate and earth. Fine, assertive talcy tannins lend support to the full-bodied black fruits and the finish trails off nicely.

91 POINTS

James Suckling

Currants, baked cherries, grilled herbs and mint. Ripe, chewy and intense, with a full body and firm but plump tannins. Bold cabernet. Drink or hold.

90 POINTS

Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate

The 2019 50 Year Old Vines Cabernet Sauvignon was matured for 18 months in French oak and is an eloquent expression of the every warm, low-yielding 2019 vintage. Mulberry, blackcurrant, licorice, cedary oak and dusty dry spices pervade both the nose and palate. It is concentrated and speaks of freshly tanned leather as much as it speaks to a core of purple fruit. Gravelly and gently drying tannins shape the finish.

90 POINTS

Jeni Port

In Château Tanunda terms, vine age is a relative concept. The company’s Barossa Valley home is blessed with old – indeed, ancient – vines. So, consider 50 years a starting point for its old vine reds. Deep, dense chocolate pan forte, fruitcake aromas and flavours. Richness is everything here, so much so, that at times it feels you are enjoying a typical Barossa Shiraz rather than Cabernet. Earthy plummy notes provide a varietal hint, there’s some dried herbals, too, and an oak tannin presence, but the overall abundance is all Barossan, chock full in blackberry fruits, cinnamon, clove, chocolatey oak and earthy, black olive savoury notes.