Wantirna Estate Amelia Cabernet Merlot 2023 - In Bond

Maryann Egan, Winemaker and owner “The 2023 Amelia cabernet sauvignon merlot is showing trademark Amelia elegance and finesse with a little bit extra in ripeness. Soft and fragrant, those wonderful Amelia flavours that are ready now but will age super well. The fruit is ripe, the tannins long and the palate reflects the high quality of Cabernets from this area of Australia.  The blend this year is around 44% merlot/cabernet franc, 46% cabernet sauvignon and 9% petit Verdot”.

Erin Larkin “The 2023 Amelia Cabernet Sauvignon is leafy and spiced on the nose, with cassis and bramble, graphite and tobacco and delicate notes of cracked black pepper, pomegranate and cherry. This is floral and medium-bodied yet structured by tannins that feel eminently pulverized into the fruit—not a frame, rather a skeleton. I recently had the pleasure of a 1991 Cabernet Merlot from Wantirna Estate, and it was utterly fantastic. A perfect wine that moved into its apogee the following day. It was elegant, intense and incredibly fresh and a bitter disappointment to reach the end of the bottle. From that experience, one could surmise that the drinking window will span 30 or more years with ease. It is so pretty and unforced. 13% alcohol, sealed under screw cap”

Nick Ryan “Cabernet as drawn by MC Escher, exquisitely etched, scrawling volumes into the tiny details. Mulberry and cassis, fennel seed and bay leaf, violets pressed between dusty tissue paper. A diaphanous sheath of fruit deftly draped over a compact and composed framework. Lovely fine acid line and microfine tannins that sit effortlessly in the wine”.

Philip Rich, Halliday Wine Companion “A 45/45/10% cabernet sauvignon/merlot and cabernet franc/petit verdot blend with the majority coming off the original dry-grown 1963 plantings. A fabulous, bright crimson/purple. A touch riper and richer than the '22. There's a sumptuous core of dark fruits, violets, cedar and fresh pencil shavings on the nose. It's just as enticing on the perfectly pitched, medium bodied, elegant and very persistent palate. Everything is in place for a long and productive life!”

Gary Walsh, The Wine Front “Blackcurrant, raspberry, redcurrant, lots of pencils, a dusty spicy almost peppery top note, roast red capsicum, some menthol, violets too. It’s medium-bodied, very tight with cool glassy acidity, again those pencils and dark tobacco, a fine grainy grip to tannin, with a crunchy cranberry finish of excellent length. It’s a vintage where the Cabernet Franc perfume and brightness seems to ride quite high, and I like that sort of thing very much. And the pencils. I love pencils in my Cabernets. It’s finely-etched and classic in its Yarra Valley restraint. I reckon it’s tops.”