2019 Mystery Wrattonbully Cabernet Blend Deal No. 5901

96 POINTS

Regan Drew - VinoNotebook

Flagship red blend from the Bizot’s. Cabernet Sauvignon (62%), Shiraz (19%) and Cabernet Franc (19%). Fruit grown on the 37 million year old soils in the Crayères vineyard, (located next to the lauded Tapanappa Whalebone vineyard). Bottled under cork (using 1 by 1 technology). Medium garnet in hue with bright ruby edges. Potent and full with cassis, violets, pepper bark, eastern spices, camphor, bramble, licorice, leather and a little choc mint. Incredibly layered and complex. Full length and then a bit more. Texturally right on with dark fruit focus, spiced highlights and an impressive flyscreen of hyper tight tannin. For now or for the ages.

96 POINTS

Mike Bennie - Wine Business Magazine

Blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and Cabernet Franc. A red of amplitude and depth but impossibly beautiful texture with a marriage of plushness and a swish of firm yet silky tannins lending structure and length. Blackcurrants, game meat, bay leaf, turned earth and black olive seem simpatico with scent and flavours, a wine which wows from first sip. A complete and seamless experience.

96 POINTS

Campbell Mattinson - Halliday Wine Companion

62/19/19% cabernet sauvignon/shiraz/cabernet franc. There's a good deal of flesh on the bones here, yet the bones remain prominent, which is exactly what you want with cabernet-based reds. Blackcurrant, licorice, gum leaf and cedar flavours sweep through the palate in commanding style, a raft of tobacco-strewn tannin drawing through the finish. It's an excellent wine.

96 POINTS

Angus Hughson - Vinous

The 2019 Crayeres Vineyard Reserve is built to impress, with 19 months in high-quality oak in a mix of barrels and foudre , with a strong feel of Cru Classe. It's broad and bold with layers of new oak, graphite, chocolate and terracotta against a firm base of chocolate, blackberry and peppery spice. It's full-throttle but also keeps its composure with dense drying tannins supporting powerful, perfectly ripened fruits, with incredible balance evident on a solid finish. A keeper.

96 POINTS

Andrew Caillard MW - The Vintage Journal

Is a cracker, but an idiosyncratic wine; much in the same way as Bordeaux’s Château Tertre Roteboeuf. It’s the type of claret style that would win a prize in the Australian Burgundy classes of yore. Voluminous and inky deep, it show lifted cassis, cedar, dried apricot, hint wood varnish aromas and flavours, fine supple/slinky texturesand well-integrated roasted chestnut notes. This is a terrific ‘vin de garde’ with all the elements for long term ageing. A high water mark for Terre à Terre.

95 POINTS

Jeni Port - Winepilot

Crayères Vineyard Reserve scores another goal for Wrattonbully fruit with a premium red wine of class and elegance. A three-way blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (62%), Shiraz (19%) and Cabernet Franc (19%), this Reserve lives up to its name. It’s biding its time – a decant would be welcomed if opening soon – with everything set in place for a long lie down in the cellar. The four-year-old delivers a fine, tight structure – indeed, quite linear thanks to Cabernet’s sturdy tannins – upon which is built layer upon layer of fruit. The presence of cedary oak is noted on both the aroma and palate, but the inherent richness of the wine holds it well. It’s got depth. Purple fruits, black berries, leaf, earth, oregano and dried herbs combine with a good dose of French oak (100% new French oak for seven months followed by 12 months in old French oak) to produce a compact, even, taut palate. Give it the time it deserves.

94 POINTS

Ned Goodwin - JamesSuckling.com

Classic claret sort of gear, with a bit more buffering of fruit and extract across the mid-palate. Clove, currant of both hues, menthol and graphite. The tannins, a compressed coil of oak and grape. This is an excellent wine in the making. The tension, extract, sense of poise, compression and expansion, make it so. It simply needs time to release more. Best after 2027.

92 POINTS

Erin Larkin - Robert Parker Wine Advocate

The 2019 Crayeres Vineyard Reserve leads with a distinct nose, with licorice oak, a hint of dark chocolate and pine resin, caramel and aniseed. Behind it is a cavalcade of cassis and black cherry, violets and blueberries, graphite and black tea. The cépage comprises 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Shiraz and 19% Cabernet Franc, and each variety is evident on the palate. The oak plays a more assertive role aromatically than it does in the mouth; the wine was initially matured for seven months in 100% new French oak before being moved to a single, old French foudre for a year. The wine was then bottled sans fining and filtration, where it stayed for a further year prior to release. So, it seems the first round in oak was an impactful period of this wine's life. All structural signs point toward this wine aging gracefully over time. Patience. 14.5% alcohol, sealed under natural cork.