The Auswine Forum

This wine went down way too easy.

Dark and broading, beautiful fruit, silky and some lovely tanins.
These wines need a month or two to settle down and show their true
potential.
I believe it could be just as good if not better than the 02.

And by the way how could Winestate give the 03 best Cab in Australia, its not a patch on 02 and 04.

Cheers Martin

MartinJohnC wrote:This wine went down way too easy.

Dark and broading, beautiful fruit, silky and some lovely tanins.
These wines need a month or two to settle down and show their true
potential.
I believe it could be just as good if not better than the 02.

Cheers Martin

Martin,

Definitely agree with you on this one. Had a bottle the other night and my note echo's yours:

2004 Saltram Mamre Brook Cabernet
My initial reaction to the colour of this wine is that you could use it as a sun shade as it was so deep and dark that it could block out the sun for at least a week! As I swirled this purplish/black wine around in the glass, wonderful aromas of blackcurrant, chocolate, mint and oak were freed from this inky blackness and I knew I was going to be in for a treat. And just by the nose alone, this wine appears very different to the 2002 release - there is no mistake that it definitely cries cabernet - but I would be hard pressed to guess that this was Barossa cabernet if this was a blind tasting. And once I took a sip, that thought was cemented further as the palate doesn't have the typical upfront fruit and chocolate flavours that a Barossa cabernet usually does. The rich fruit is definitely there, but it is the theme of elegance and complexity that takes over and grabs your attention. Lots of spice and herbs and cedar. The oak use is exceptional, a lot less than the 2002 from what I remember. Wonderful mouthfeel and balance. And the wine concludes with a long, dry, dusty finish of mouth-coating grippy tannins. This is a glorious wine and Saltram is commiting daylight robbery for making this available for under AU$20. Better than the 2002 release in my opinion, this wine definitely has a long life ahead of it and it could well last JO's anticipated drinking window of 2024-34. For a sub $20 wine that is exceptional in itself!

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2004 Saltram Mamre Brook Cabernet. The oak use is exceptional, a lot less than the 2002 from what I remember. . Better than the 2002 release in my opinion, this ![/quote]

This sounds very promising Andrew, as I found the Oak was one of few little let downs of the 2002. Seems Nigel Doolan could be right about the 04 being superior. I will try one of my dozen soon.

platinum wrote:

I will try one of my dozen soon.[/quote]

Me too!! Me too!! Well, my box of it arrived today at work but didn't bring it home as the cardboard could've disintegrated in the rain on the way home on the Gearsack rack. But I did transfer two bottles to the backpack so I can check it out over the weekend. Still working on a bottle of Seppelt Vic Shiraz 03 that was opened on Wednesday night and it's holding together admirably.

If the NQ Cowboys vs Wests Tigers game hadn't been free-to-air tonight I'd probably have finished the Vic by now but felt beer was the quaff for the footy. The James Squire Hop Thief, once one becomes accustomed to the floral character is, as with just about all of the JS beers, about as good as any beer gets.

Oooo, yes, Cowboys 32 to Tigers 12 - that's my team! The reigning premiers? They melted in the heat and humidity - and lost Benji for 6 or more games. How good is J Thurston? How good is the team with him in it? I'm thinking he's good enough to shut down Matty Johns next weekend - he's very, very good in defence as well as attack, saved a try tonight.

Cheers

daz

Anyone actually tasted one of those magnums of Mamre Brook Shiraz Cabernet 2004?

Ratcatcher wrote:Anyone actually tasted one of those magnums of Mamre Brook Shiraz Cabernet 2004?

I will be drinking one next Sunday with a bbq we are having. I'll post up next week.

I tried this wine last night. It had about 7 hours in he decanter before I got to it and when I did I was not dissapointed. Very nice wine. Much more elegant than I expected but still with astonishing depth of fruit for $15.50 a bottle. Good tannins and oak and look forward to it in a decade when it will really sings.

MartinJohnC wrote:This wine went down way too easy.

Dark and broading, beautiful fruit, silky and some lovely tanins.
These wines need a month or two to settle down and show their true
potential.
I believe it could be just as good if not better than the 02.

And by the way how could Winestate give the 03 best Cab in Australia, its not a patch on 02 and 04.

Cheers Martin

Maybe, I'll try one in a month or two. Right now, I think it's worth pretty much what they're asking for it. I agree it's got potential, but I'm not convinced that it's ever going to be a heap better. Will keep an open mind, though.

I had the 2004 Friday night alongside the 1996 at the launch of the 2002 8th Maker in Melbourne......great little wine and amazing value.

Dave

Had a bottle last week as well and was mighty impressed. The depth of fruit and complexity to this wine for the price is fantastic. The thing that really got me was the tanins, it had a real strong backbone of chalky tanins that I think is rarely found at this price point these days, so many wines are made to drink young. IMHO this one will age gracefully and become something special years from now.

Glen