Mount Mary Quintet

Apologies for another delay. I have come down with a heavy flu and could not taste any wines.

Today's review is likely to be controversial, but one of the benefits of blogging is the independence and the lack of peer pressure one has to take into account in reviewing wines. So here is a not so great experience with an Australian icon wine.

I had great expectations when pouring the 2010 Mount Mary Quintet. A highly regarded wine from a great vintage, what can go wrong? The wine opens with attractive complex forest berry aromas. Little did I know that this was the highlight of the experience. The wine turned out to be quite lean on the palate, not green, but it simply lacked mouthfeel. I also felt there was some brett in the wine, which dulled the flavours, but I doubt it made a huge difference in this case. On the positive side, the wine had a fairly long finish and a fine overall structure. But it was simply not enough to overcome the lack of mouthfeel. There are certainly much better buys of top level Cabernets from Margaret River, be they full- or medium-bodied. I should probably try another bottle of this wine, but I am not inclined to spend this amount of money on it.

There is a line of thought that Yarra Valley Cabernet can be as good, relatively speaking, as the best Pinot Noir from the area. I have never experienced this. I bought the Quintet from the year 2000, which is supposed to have excelled in that difficult year. I am looking forward with some trepidation to open the first of my three bottles. I should do it sooner than later.

Score: 91/-