Wc05Jan09<\/p>\n
david ellis<\/p>\n
PUT together a low-yielding vineyard on the very spine of Coonawarra’s famed terra rossa strip, a perfect vintage, and over 150 years of winemaking experience, and what you’ve done is bottle-up Lindemans 2005 St George Cabernet Sauvignon.<\/p>\n
The 12ha St George Vineyard was planted back in 1967 and since then has produced vintage after vintage of superlative wines, with the 2005 one of the best \u2013 a dry and slightly warmer than usual summer with no rain gave winemaker Brett Sharpe the fruit to create a truly classic Cabernet Sauvignon.<\/p>\n
Full bodied and complex with sweet blackberry fruit and a touch of licorice on the palate, this is an ideal wine to match with premium beef dishes, or to sip lovingly over a platter of hard after-dinner cheeses.<\/p>\n
Not inexpensive at $54.99 it will reward now for a special occasion dinner, and all the more so with eight to ten years graceful aging.<\/p>\n
ONE FOR LUNCH: Unusually warm and dry conditions in the first two months of 2008 resulted in ideal fully-flavoured fruit for Roundstone’s 2008 Yarra Valley Sauvignon Blanc.<\/p>\n
Typically grassy and tropical fruit characters make this wine a perfect match with seafoods, a plate of fresh-cooked asparagus shared with warm crusty baguettes, or a warm salad.<\/p>\n
Well priced to enjoy now at $25, it will also reward well with two or three years cellaring that will see it soften and develop more complexity.<\/p>\n