2001 Henry's Drive Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve

[wondersofwine]

Padthaway, Australia
Winemaker: Sparky Marquis
about $36 a bottle
Alcohol: 14.5%
Dense, opaque purple/black in a full glass; becomes transparent red/purple as glass empties.
Nose: cassis, blackberries, cedar and roasted coffee
Taste: similar to above descriptors; full-bodied; long finish.
As I understand it, the 2001 was such a ripe, quality vintage that all the Henry's Drive Cabernet was declared "reserve."
For a big wine this is balanced and smooth. Can enjoy it now but it would probably benefit from cellaring. I would say it rivals 2001 cab from some of California's top vineyards and costs less.
Good mate for beef--I had it with a beefy casserole and with steak.

[newsguy]

WOW: i agree wholeheartedly. below is my post from 1/20/03...

"$40 a bottle and worth every penny. sparky and sarah deliver the goods yet again. i had a bottle four nights ago along with an aged prime T-bone and didn't write down my notes, now i've forgotten much of the specifics. from memory...

decanted and let it sit for 1.5 hours. opaque, dark purplish-black. nose/taste of dark fruits (plum leading way) and vanilla, with mocha showing later and just a hint of eucalyptus/mint. this is the deepest, thickest, richest wine i've ever tasted. there's plenty of fine-grained tannins, but they don't seem to stomp much on the finish, which i timed at over 50 seconds.

clearly, this youthful brute is over the top now. i'd like to hear from others who've tried it as to whether they think this will get more complex as it ages, and how long they think this should be cellared. i'm guessing it's best to hold 3-5 years, but this could go 10 easy. whaddya say folks?

i enjoyed this wine more than others that have cost up to four times as much. if you can track this down, buy some and do it fast, cause it won't be on the shelves long."

i only have two bottles of this in the wine locker and wish i had about 10 times that many. yes, the '01 vintage of this cab was all declared reserve (which to me, kinda flies in the face of a 'reserve.') and from what i'm hearing about '02 in australia, wouldn't be surprised if we see only a reserve '02 henry's drive cab. regardless, i'm buying [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/wink.gif[/img]