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:
-
Hillside Estate Pinotage
This wine rates in my top 10 Canadian wines, and I would seek it out at if you are interested in giving it a try.
-
David Walker Wines launches Mission Hill’s Perpetua and Quatrain
When you are a wine freak like me, getting sent invites to wine launch parties brings a combination of nerves, excitement and anticipation.
-
Cork Fine Wine Tasting Series featuring Argyle Wines
Argyle Wines has been called by Wine Spectator as “Oregon’s Premier Winery” and routinely receives ratings in the 90 + rating levels from its critics.
-
2008 Rocky Mountain Food and Wine Festival
For the third straight year, editors from Reading for New Times attended the Calgary stop of the Rocky Mountain Food and Wine Festival. The festival brings Calgarians a taste of some of the finest wines, beers and spirits being offered in the city……
-
Jim Barry The Lodge Hill Shiraz
Jim Barry is one of Australia’s finest producers and has some of the most collectible and desirable bottlings year after year.
-
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.
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.
