TN: 2001 Flemings Cabernet Sauvignon

[Murray]

I was also sent a sample of the wine along with Gavin and Attila although mine arrived after Christmas and I let it settle for e few days before tasting it.

Flemings is from Langhorne Creek with David Fleming winemaker. This bottle carries an export label with the US Government Warning (loose translation: drinking wine will make you die). The label also notes 19 months maturation in american oak barriques, but doesn't mention their age. Alcohol 13.7%

Dark full red in colour. Aromas of dark berry with a pronounced mint character on the nose with a hint of underlying VA providing lift.

The oak is more evident on the palate, along with the full sweetness of the fruit. This sweetness is not the overripe jam sometimes seen in some Barossa styles, morever ripe sweet fruit. The mintiness also comes through on the palate. Medium breadth across the palate. The tannins are quite fine and medium weight before a medium-long finish.

A nicely structured wine demonstrating physiological fruit ripeness. It will develop some integration with time in the cellar, but I don't see it as a long term cellaring proposition.

© Murray Almond

[TORB]

Looks like a number of us got a bottle to try. Here is my TN

The bouquet is dominated by three scents, black berry tarry fruit, mint and a little vanilla. It also smells clean! ItÂ’s a muscular weight wine with lots of slightly powdery tannins that are already smooth and fine grained, the acid is very fresh and there is enough fruit to complete the package; in short its well balanced and constructed which will ensure it improves over the next five years or so. ItÂ’s intensely savoury on the uptake showing plum and blackberry with a sweet mid palate comprising chocolate and subtle blackcurrant and mint to finish; interesting flavour complexity.

ItÂ’s rated as Recommended with **** for value and the rating has room for improvement as the wine matures, it does need some time to settle down and come together.

[markg]

For anybody who is interested, about 300 cases of this will be available for bidding on in my upcoming wine auction (due to list late this week). Bidding will start at approx. $14-$15 per bottle with a minimum buy of 1 dozen bottles.

[Adair]

Me too:

TN: 2001 Flemings Cabernet Sauvignon - 13.7% - Langhorne Creek:
Red with purple tinges. The wine is underpinned by a ripe, luscious base of dark cherries and blackberry with a hint of mint upon which obvious yet not intrusive oak features of vanilla, toast/nuttiness and a powerful gamut of sweet spices add to the wineÂ’s interest and complexity. There is still a wood rawness that will benefit from bottle age. Its structure of cushion-like tannins and acid promote ridiculously easy drinking and provide the wine with medium length. Best drunk in 1-3 years to allow some of the oak flavours and acid to integrate into the wine without losing its primary fruit freshness and power. Good value around $15. Rated as Recommended.

Aside & Disclosure: I did not know the price of the wine when writing the tasting note and the bottle was given free as a sample - for which I am grateful!

Kind regards,
Adair

[Guest]

Me too:

TN: 2001 Flemings Cabernet Sauvignon - 13.7% - Langhorne Creek:
Red with purple tinges. The wine is underpinned by a ripe, luscious base of dark cherries and blackberry with a hint of mint upon which obvious yet not intrusive oak features of vanilla, toast/nuttiness and a powerful gamut of sweet spices add to the wine’s interest and complexity. There is still a wood rawness that will benefit from bottle age. Its structure of cushion-like tannins and acid promote ridiculously easy drinking and provide the wine with medium length. Best drunk in 1-3 years to allow some of the oak flavours and acid to integrate into the wine without losing its primary fruit freshness and power. Good value around $15. Rated as Recommended.

Aside & Disclosure: I did not know the price of the wine when writing the tasting note and the bottle was given free as a sample - for which I am grateful!

Kind regards,
Adair

So how do you go about getting free wine then ?

[Murray]

So how do you go about getting free wine then ?

Hi guest,

I won't speak for Adair but I wouldn't call trade samples 'free'.

I spend a deal of time assessing a wine, seeing how it changes over time and for different temperatures before finally developing the tasting note for the wine. At reasonable chargeout rates this 'time investment' is more than I would normally pay for the wine.

As I see it if a winery chooses to submit a wine for review then I should give the wine due respect in considering the wine and writing the note.

This is also the case for trade tastings as well.

However if you're desperate for 'free wine' There are many oppurtunities to taste wine without having to lay out cash, many stores have in-store tastings and many wineries also don't charge for tastings.

[markg]

[So how do you go about getting free wine then ?

Hi Guest,

It wasn't free wine as such, the recipients were asked to write an objective tasting note on the wine.

With the permission of the winemaker, I approached a number of people on this forum who regularly post tasting notes and whose opinions (I judged) are respected by the majority here and asked if they would be willing to try (what I thought was) a very reasonable cabernet and then post their findings on the forums. My task was to raise awareness of the wine because I have it on offer at my auction site - 300 dozen cases with the current bidding at under $16 per bottle (including commission) - FLEMINGS Cabernet.

I may have some other wines that need reviews in the near future and will be looking out for regular forum posters to invite for samples.

[TORB]

What is really interesting about these tasting notes is how consistently we all describe the wine, there are no huge deviations even though we all did them individually.