Narkoojee Cabernet Sauvignon
Narkoojee Cabernet Sauvignon
Vintage: 2004
Region: Central Gippsland, Victoria, Australia
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc
Price: $20.00
Time to head back to the land down under for this weeks wine selection. This example was brought to me by my father-in-law Paul, whose wine selections and palate grow more astute each time we get together. A little bit about the producer, Narkoojee is a family run vineyard located in the relatively obscure Central Gippsland sub-region in Victoria, Australia. This sub-region is considered cool climate from an Australian perspective and produces grapes known for being full flavored with good intensity . Lets see if the folks from Narkoojee were able to reign in that intensity for this blend of 90% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Cabernet Franc.
Out of the bottle, the color to the body is garnet red and has good clarity. Immediately, even without decanting the perfume of this wine makes itself known. It has a wonderful aroma of cooked sweet beets, with toasted oak and caramel notes. As the wine settles in, there are notes of spiced mint which is unique and appealing. In the mouth, this wine has reasonable extraction with black current, blackberry and cherries indicative up front trailing to that beet like component on the mid palate. It closes with tart cherries leading soft, generous tannins trailing over a medium finish. I am also pulling some pencil lead, which is curious and unexpected.
Overall, if you are a lover of green / vegetal Cabernet based wine, this one would be worthy selection. I personally enjoyed it for its uniqueness on its nose and its reasonable price It isn’t one of these Napa Valley fruit/oak bombs we might be accustomed to, but it has an identity with signs of character, grace and elegance. Keep your eye open for it at your next market visit.
90 Points
- Narkoojee Cabernet Sauvignon
- by Adrian Bryksa
- Published on July 15th, 2009
- Rating:
- 90 Points
More from Adrian Bryksa:
-
Terre da vino Barolo Poderi Scaronne D.O.C.G.
I recently spotted a lonely bottle of 2005 Amon-Ra for a bargain basement price that I left on the shelf. When I went back to buy it, it was gone and I swore that I would never leave another deal like that on the table.
-
Rosemount Estate Show Reserve Shiraz
For this months review, I thought it was time to visit my cellar again. When I buy wine to cellar, I usually purchase it with an event in mind. It is a on the rare occasion that pull something out of the cellar to drink on my own and that’s what happened here.
-
Wine by the glass at Vin Room
Vin Room, a wine bar and bistro has been on the tip of everyone’s tongue these days. Their expansive offerings of wine by the glass and that everyone has either went or wants to go is making this a hip spot.
-
Sustainable Dining at Red Door Bistro
Using local and provincial producers, Red Door Bistro has tried to ensure that where possible, their materials are as organic and are as free from hormones, pesticides and all those other undesirable ingredients as possible.
-
Super Bowl Beer Sampling
After nearly choking over a thirteen dollar six pack, I decided that my sampling would be done based off of 500 mL cans of 4 various import beers coming in at an average of $2.45 per unit. Not cheap, but not unreasonable for 2 liters of the nectar of the gods.
-
Regional Heroes Wine Tasting
As if the wine wasn’t enough, the event was professionally catered and the food offerings were excellent. From crab stuffed mushroom caps to a wide array of cheeses and other appetizers, guests were given an opportunity to snack on some gourmet nosh while sampling in this intimate environment.
Other recent features:
-
Sónar 2010 – Barcelona, Spain
The festival attracts a lot of outsiders, but the Mediterranean, Spanish and more specifically Catalan nature of the people makes the festival what it is. Catalan people are passionate and this passion is infectious. The atmosphere is electric in Barcelona as a city and heightened by music and intoxicants at Sónar.
-
Summer Party Naval Styles at Seven RestoLounge
Oysters, like wine are affected by terroir and these Miyagi’s flavor profiles ranged with one showing a cleaner, almost tropical profile and the other being more salty, marine driven. As I was devouring the seemingly endless plates put in front of us, I sipped on a glass of fine sauvignon blanc.
-
R4NT Radio March 2010
R4NT Radio March 2010 um wow it’s been far too long since the last edition edition, featuring: Hector Hernandez, The Infesticons, Blockhead, Gramatik, Emika, Thunderheist, Parov Stelar, Eddy Meets Yannah, Anti-Pop Consortium, The Slew, Lighterthief, Andreya Triana, Parasyte Woman, Mathon, Venetian Snares, and Funki Porcini.
-
O Restaurant & Lounge revisited
Calgary has a diverse set of urban communities, most of which have the ubiquitous strip mall watering hole. In the South West community of Marda Loop, a reinvention of this paradigm has been established.
-
Predictions 2010.. and beyond!
So 2010 eh? Almost but not quite (no year zero they say) another decade? It seems like just yesterday that the world was waiting for Y2K. R4NT started publishing in March 2001, so we’re not quite 10 years old yet, but in internet years we are already a senior citizen.
-
Invictus
No matter what, the reality of Nelson Mandela is something that deserves screen time. Should this film even remotely intrigue the masses to take interest in this figure, the world would likely benefit greatly from it.
