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Wine Description
The Story
Here is a young red that will benefit from time in the bottle. That said, it’s a remarkable cabernet blend with voluminous red berry aromatics, deep opulent blackcurrant, dark plum and redcurrant characters with hints of licorice, chocolate and wild brambles. It has layer after layer of concentrated flavours, power and density, balanced by substantial fine-grain tannins. Complex, arresting and satisfying.
In 2014, Grosset Gaia was included on the Langton Classification of Australian Wine, widely regarded as the best publication of its kind outside Europe. This recognises Grosset Gaia as one of the most sought-after wines produced in this country.
Wine Information
Grosset Gaia 2005
They will be wondering whether Jeff Grosset has gone soft. They will want to know ‘is age catching up with the master of austerity?’ ‘What’s this with a cuddly cabernet?’ the wine lovers of Adelaide, Amsterdam, Anaheim and Accrington will be wondering. The 2005 Grosset ‘Gaia’ is back to the usual blend of cabernet sauvignon (75%), cabernet franc (20%) and merlot (5%) and is a surprise packet. As always, it is sourced solely from Grosset’s stoney, desolate, wind-swept, high Gaia vineyard in the Clare Valley.
The wine itself is broodingly aromatic with dense, deep brambly, blackcurrant and dark plum flavours with a wonderful succulence in the mid-palate so it’s much less austere than usual. There’s weight, power and tremendous density and layer after layer of flavour – which at present is pretty tightly coiled. Yet there’s a gentleness about the wine that is not typical of Gaia at this age, certainly some characteristic restraint yet there’s an approachability from power of the fruit balanced by the ripe, powdery, fine-grained tannins. The texture is velvety, almost seductive and there is an elegance to the wine. It is simply delicious now yet with the capacity to age as well as any other vintage.
Reviews
James Halliday ‘Australian Wine Companion’ 2009
Lovely cabernet, expressive of a more red fruit personality, pure and quite generous; it would be easy to miss the structure of this wine, given the abundance of tightly focused fruit, but it is there and will see the wine age gracefully for a decade to come. Drink to: 2018. 95 points
Tyson Stelzer ‘Wine Business Monthly’ Top 100 June 2008
This is a structured, varietal Cabernet, honed for the long-haul. It’s packed with leafy, minty, green capsicum flavours which add an edge to its red berry fruit. Firm, fine, grippy tannins and well-balanced oak will benefit from a decade to soften and integrate.
Huon Hooke ‘The Sydney Morning Herald’ Good Living 25 March 2008
A blend of cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc and merlot from the Clare Valley, this is a superb wine, complex and concentrated, with a fleshy, smooth palate with sweet fruit and fine-grained tannins. Coffee-grounds, berry and green bean aromas.
Now to 15 or more years. 95 points