The 2023 vintage is widely reported to have been the most difficult and challenging in at least the past 20 years. A third La Niña event produced the wettest year since 2011 and the ninth wettest on record since 1900 for Australia in 2022, with rainfall totals 26 per cent above the 1961–1990 average. It was also Australia’s coolest
year since 2012, although average temperatures were 0.5 degrees C warmer than the 1961–1990 average. Persiste...
Ashmead Cabernet Sauvignon 2023 ($125) – Year in, year out, this is always one of the Barossa’s most exciting Cabernets and this latest release is no different. Stellar stuff. The wine spent eighteen months in French oak.
An opaque maroon with a dark red rim, this is still very young. Lovers of flavoursome Barossa reds would do themselves a favour by holding off for three or four years, after which enjoy it for the next twenty. There is a flick of vanilla from the well-handled oak, still in the process of integration, along with notes of chocolate, bay leaves, black cherries, soy, leather, dried herbs, blackcurrants and coffee grinds. As appealing as the nose is, the wine lifts on the palate. It is impeccably balanced with a sleek, juicy texture and fine, silky tannins. The wine has seriously impressive length. 95.
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