Price: $29.00	QTY:
Balnaves Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 Opened the 08 Tally last night and it’s looking very good. If there’s a Dr Mattinson in the house, then I’d love a second opinion on this wine (not The Tally): it’s an important staple in many a good cellar. Rich smelling wine, but has a certain freshness and vigour, which from what I’ve tasted to date, seems be a trait of the 2008 Coonawarra vintage. Fruit profile would best be described as being like blackberries and dark cherries and there’s dark chocolate, toasty spiced vanilla oak with a little mint and sweet leather. Full bodied, but fresh and lively (perhaps too much so at this stage as the acidity looks a bit too enthusiastic and nippy), with positive structural fine grained tannins and plenty of length - no holes along the way. Needs time for the acidity to settle (and I wish there was less of it) but, minor quibbles aside, an impressive wine nonetheless.  Drink : 2014 - 2020+ 93 POINTS Gary Walsh, The Wine Front Drawn from a little over 16 hectares of estate plantings, the majority of the grapes are sold to other leading Coonawarra winemakers. The '96 won the trophy for Best Varietal Cabernet in Show at the 1998 Royal Sydney Wine Show, and the '98 is every bit as good. – James Halliday