Red Wine Wednesday – Driftwood 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon

Well you almost didn’t get a review of this wine – I started drinking it yesterday, fully expecting to do a red wine Wednesday, but got side tracked taking to a friend about his permaculture hobby (hey Lindsay!) and forgot and I’m a day late down to the last 1/2 glass already before I’ve even written a word – oops!

Ah well, you’re all used to me being a bit flexible with a) the wine being red and b) it being Wednesdays.

So – for your viewing pleasure, wine fans, I give you Driftwood Cabernet Sauvignon 2009.

As you might be able to guess from the intro, this is an eminently drinkable wine!  I’m not normally the worlds biggest cab sav fan, but this one is really rather nice.

Its a local West Australian wine from Driftwood Estate in the Margaret River wine region which is a couple of hours drive south of here (regular readers may remember I went on holiday down there at Easter this year).  Margs is near perfect climate and soils for a corking cab sav – limestones and stable temps, a high minimum and plenty of rain.

So – what’s this little beauty like?

Presentation:  Its got a nice classy bottle, simple, elegant – you’d be happy with this on your table if a friend brought it round for dinner.

Appearance:   Deep cherry red, totally opaque even held up to the light – that means we’re going to get plenty of dark richness on the taste buds.

Aroma/Smell/Bouquet:  Ooh, that’s rather nice.  It doesn’t have that sweetness that some cab savs have (and so often ruin it for me) – it’s all dark and complex and full of rich juicy blackberry and plummy tones with plenty of aromatic almost spicy dark notes.  The tasting notes say chocolate and tobacco – the dark chocolate notes I can believe, but tobacco – I’ll have to take their word for it, I don’t think I can pick that out..

Taste:  Bursting with juicy goodness with that cheek puckering dryness from the cab sav – just like it’s supposed to be.  There’s none of that cloying sweetness, which makes me happy!   The initial juiciness melts away and reveals a nice dark, but not heavy and velvety, middle palate with lots of nice aromatic tannins.

Finish:  It finishes off softly, leaving a nice juicy glow, backed up with an almost spicy tannin laden long lasting tail.

Verdict:  I really like this, it’s a classic no nonsense cab sav with plenty of character and is effortlessly drinkable.  Pair it with a rich meaty dish or just drink on its own. 

Score:  8.5/10 Will try to find this one again.