TN: 2004 Howard Park Cabernet Merlot
Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2010 11:39 am
This wine got some big reviews on release but sells through slowly (and cheaper than Bin 389) here in the UK. btw I was sad to see they have got rid of the old label, which was one of the most beautiful wine labels I have seen.
TN: 2004 Howard Park Cabernet Merlot
Medium purple red. A sweet and deeply intoxicating aroma of cherries, plums and a touch of licorice greets you immediatley after popping and pouring. After a couple of hours the nose is slightly tighter and more focussed - there is no apparent oak so it comes across as open and ready for business, without being blousy. In the mouth it is oppulent at the start with currants, plums and some tobacco. It has very fine tannin and a lovely structure on the mid-palate - finishes long, elegant and linear, then spreading out to fill the mouth in a very pleasant way. The oak is there but you cannot taste it (perfection) and it's 13.5% alcohol (I guessed it at 14%).
Stylistically it seems to me more merlot influenced than I personally prefer - perhaps more of a juicy St Julien style rather than an intense Paulliac. Very nice though: if the fruit had been picked a little earlier and the tannin management had been a bit more rough and ready, I suspect you'd have more X-factor and an absolute classic for my tastes ... It's a wine which is technically excellent right now and you could chuck a boatload of points at it, but perhaps needs 5-10 years to see where it's heading.
TN: 2004 Howard Park Cabernet Merlot
Medium purple red. A sweet and deeply intoxicating aroma of cherries, plums and a touch of licorice greets you immediatley after popping and pouring. After a couple of hours the nose is slightly tighter and more focussed - there is no apparent oak so it comes across as open and ready for business, without being blousy. In the mouth it is oppulent at the start with currants, plums and some tobacco. It has very fine tannin and a lovely structure on the mid-palate - finishes long, elegant and linear, then spreading out to fill the mouth in a very pleasant way. The oak is there but you cannot taste it (perfection) and it's 13.5% alcohol (I guessed it at 14%).
Stylistically it seems to me more merlot influenced than I personally prefer - perhaps more of a juicy St Julien style rather than an intense Paulliac. Very nice though: if the fruit had been picked a little earlier and the tannin management had been a bit more rough and ready, I suspect you'd have more X-factor and an absolute classic for my tastes ... It's a wine which is technically excellent right now and you could chuck a boatload of points at it, but perhaps needs 5-10 years to see where it's heading.
