Paul Nelson Bouverie Vineyard 'Claret' Cabernet Sauvignon 2023

98 POINTS

Ray Jordan

One of the oldest cabernet plantings in the Great Southern, having started in 1972. Nelson picks in two portions and ferments separately in amphora and barriques with about 30% new oak. He is aiming for a modern style, more refined and elegant style of cabernet. It’s bright and lively with energy bursting through it. Has a floral note with a subtle blackcurrant leafiness. It’s elegantly structured and medium-weight but with tremendous power. Has a chalky dusty character. The amphora appears responsible for promoting the essential glowing characters of the fruit. As good as anything Nelson has made.

96 POINTS

Halliday Wine Companion - Panel Score

100% cabernet sauvignon. Fairly complex making in this wine: the fruit was handpicked and then split across three fermenters, each seeing different proportions of whole bunch. Part oak maturation and part amphorae, too. Blackcurrant and cedar, blueberry and black cherry. Deposits of graphite and gun flint coruscate through the density of black fruit. We have a beautiful wine here. Extended skin contact was employed to generate textural interest, and the resulting soft, kinetic and fine gravelly tannins are built for ageing. Certainly, little left to chance outside Mother Nature's brushstrokes on the vineyard. A masterfully made wine.