Purchased and partially consumed with lunch at the delightful Sandalford Estate restaurant. The remainder consumed tonight. Decanted before initial service, then the remainder decanted back into the bottle to take home. Margaret River fruit.
Deep purple in colour. Intense nose, with blackcurrant, cassis, licorice, cocoa/mocha, and bay leaf on the nose. The palate is highlighted by fine dusty tannins, with secondary dark fruits washing over and great supporting acid. It's full bodied but has elegance and balance as well, and is probably at its peak about now.
Certainly, more recent vintages have been enjoyable, but not quite there, and it's possible 10-15 years is the window for this wine.
This is also the Reserve label, but there is the flagship (and nearly three times the price) Prendiville Reserve range (Prendiville being the family that owns the winery) as well, which I have sampled on a few occasions. The Reserve range exceeds my expectations for a $40 wine, and I have yet to test the Prendiville at similar ages (10-15 years). I'm more than satisfied with the Reserve wine on a VFM / QPR basis (and I am hoping someone will offer the opportunity to taste lots of Prendiville - purely for comparison, of course)
Cheers
Allan
TN: Sandalford Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2008
- Waiters Friend
- Posts: 2784
- Joined: Mon May 02, 2005 4:09 am
- Location: Perth WA
TN: Sandalford Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2008
Wine, women and song. Ideally, you can experience all three at once.