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CABERNET SAUVIGNON

2005 VOYAGER ESTATE GIRT BY SEA CABERNET MERLOT ! $29.95

REGION: MARGARET RIVER, WESTERN AUSTRALIA

"Medium- to full-bodied; clear-cut cassis, blackcurrant, black fruits in a firmly delineated frame; perfect balance of oak and tannins guarantee the slow, long-term development of a classy wine. 14.1º alc. Drink Now - 2027." James Halliday - 94 points

"'Australians all let us ring Joyce, for she is young and free'. I like that line from the film Kenny almost as much as I like the word 'girt'. This is 44 percent cabernet, 42 percent merlot , 9 percent shiraz and 9 percent malbec.

Aromas of blackberry, cassis, capsicum, baking spices and a little sweet oak. On the palate medium bodied with a mix of red and black fruit, earth, spice and chocolate. Fresh acidity and plenty of firm dry tannins. Particularly well structured. Good length of flavour. This is meant to be an earlier drinking style but I’d suggest cellaring it for a while. She’s a little trimmer. Drink : 2009 - 2017+." Gary Walsh, Winorama – 91+ points

"A few sips on this and I'd put a call into the local butcher - save me a few steaks! It's a lovely drinking wine. Straight, honest, pure blackcurrant and blackberried fruit, its heart then full of flavours like gravel and earth and dust. Oak plays only a minor role. Lots of dry, powdery, chalky tannins. Slight bitterness, but in a way that I enjoy - and which goes well with steak. Really good drinking wine. Drink: 2007-2012." Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front - 90 points

"Grab a steak and a bottle of this, and winter suddenly seems like the best time of the year. Mind, it would go great with spring lamb too. It’s just a lovely drinking wine. Straight, honest, robust flavours, its gravely, slightly bitter edges swamped by dark curranty fruit. It had me tucking back for more, that’s for sure. Drink 2008-2012." Campbell Mattinson, The Big Red Wine Book – 90 points

"This attractively priced cabernet merlot is redolent of raspberry and blueberry. It’s fruit-driven, with some spice from background oak and an elegant, medium-weight palate. At this stage, it’s slightly raw and underdeveloped." Huon Hooke, Gourmet Traveller Wine - 90 points ****

"Unlike the Voyager Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot, which is predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon and has 10-15% Merlot, our Girt by Sea is almost equal parts of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot (44% and 42% respectively). In this wine we have set out to achieve a softer red blend for earlier consumption.

All varieties were harvested during April and early May. All components were fermented seperately in upright static fermenters with regular pump-overs. Fermentation is conducted with small amounts of the 796 Bordeaux yeast strain at temperatures kept below 28C. Ferments lasted up to 14days before either being pressed or allowed to stay on skins for further texture and tannin modification. All wine was innoculated for malolactic fermentation in tank and then transferred to barrel. The wine was matured in older French and American oak barrels for 12 months. The older wood gives the wine some oak influence, however it is, by design, a fruit driven wine. Deep red with brickish tints; the nose displays dark fruits in the blackberry, blood plum and cherry spectrum with dusty oak, dark chocolate and classic Margaret River spice; on the palate the full array of dark fruits are revealed along with briary chocolate notes. Fine chalky, earthy tannins taper to a structured clean finish. The malbec gives the wine some extra weight and complexity." Winery Notes

Drink Now to 2020

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