Koomilya 2016 McLaren Vale Cabernet Sauvignon 'CP Block'

At 9 years out from vintage this wine is finally settling into itself. It still is very primary and youthful, retaining a core of intense dark fruit and minerality, yet there is a placidity with the tannins providing arching structural support rather than blocking the fruit. Cassis and crushed blackberry, liqueur cherries are folding into a black hole at the centre of this wine; liquorice, cocoa nibs, and maduro cigar leaf find themselves tipping over the event horizon. Spiralling around all of this, centred by the fruit's primary gravitational pull, are bay leaf, ore-like mineral tones, spice-chest, and antique furniture. The palate is dense yet firmly structured; this is not a juicy wine. Eucalypt joins the fray along with truffle, campfire, star anise, and graphite throughout the long, broad and mineral-ore flecked finish. Potentially an Australian Pessac, to make a claret comparison ... Smith-Haut-Lafitte? A Spring and Autumn Wine; a singular achievement in the Australian Cabernet Annals. - David