Wendouree Cabernet Sauvignon Clare Valley 2009

Wendouree is the cult Clare Valley estate that has been sold almost entirely through a handwritten mailing list since the Brady family closed the cellar door in the 1990s. The Cabernet comes from the estate's historic old vines, some dating to 1898, dry-grown on red clay over limestone, and the wine is fermented in open slate fermenters and matured in French oak. It is bottled unfiltered. It is not made every year as a straight Cabernet: it is often blended with Malbec, and the 2021 was the first straight Cabernet since the 2018.

The result is Wendouree at its most classical. Blackcurrant, cassis, plum and violet lead, with cedar, graphite and pencil shavings, and the estate's house traits of walnut, bay leaf, aniseed and a mint-or-eucalypt note that is subtle in some vintages. The palate is long, flowing and tight-grained, with powdery, firm tannins and a savoury, mineral edge that critics compare to a Mount Mary Quintet. The 2021 earned 99 points from The Wine Front and 97 from Huon Hooke, and the estate is classified "Exceptional" in the Langton's Classification.