2017 Thousand Candles Field Blend

95 POINTS

James Halliday - Halliday Wine Companion

49% pinot noir, 33% shiraz and 18% merlot. Pinot has the upper hand here, but the expectation is it will vary from year to year depending on the season. It looks back to the beliefs and practises of Thousand Candles' first winemaker Bill Downie. I didn't expect this odd blend to work as well as it does, but it is juicy and seductive. Though, for the record, not a true field blend.

94 POINTS

Gary Walsh - The Wine Front

Pinot Noir (49%), Shiraz  (33%) and Merlot (18%). Interesting blend, but it works. No new oak, a little whole bunch, and not too much fiddling about in the winery. Juicy ripe berries, coffee grounds, a pleasant amount of spicy herbal whole bunch that tempers and greets the flesh of the fruit, chocolate and roses. Medium-bodied, mainly into the red fruits, stroke of emery board tannin, quiet acidity, subtle earthiness and spice, with the tannin picking up and firming the finish – almost like a Turkish coffee. Plenty of interest, and drinking pleasure. Like this a lot.

94 POINTS

Gary Walsh - The Wine Front

Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc: a few of my favourite things. It’s a beautiful thing to smell, and to drink, not least as a young wine. Plum, and forest berries, chocolate and sweet earth, almost a potpourri fragrance. Medium-bodied, soft and supple, all chocolate and hazelnuts (praline), so gentle and charming, no grating acidity, a sweep of sooty tannin tumbles down the plump berry and sweet tobacco finish. Turkish delight lingers in the aftertaste, and what a bloody delight it is too, from start to finish.

93 POINTS

James Halliday - Halliday Wine Companion

High density plantings of 50% merlot, 38% cabernet and 12% cabernet franc, matured separately for 7 months in used French oak. Good colour; the power and focus grow with each sip, although time is needed for the cassis/blackcurrant/mulberry and olive flavours to settle down, the tannins in particular. Interesting wine.