YALUMBA THE MENZIES CABERNET SAUVIGNON 2019

Trophy & 98/100 for Best Cabernet – James Halliday Cabernet Challenge 2021
Trophy for Best Cabernet Sauvignon (4 to 6 Years Old) – Limestone Coast Wine Show 2024
Gold Medal – National Wine Show of Australia 2023
Gold Medal – Royal Sydney Wine Show 2023

The famous Menzies label is on top form with the 2019. One of Coonawarra’s leading Cabernets with vines that are now around 30 years old. This tastes like Coonawarra Cabernet – that is cool climate in an Australian way, with cigar box, blackcurrant, olive tapenade, dried herb and a hint of mint and cedary oak. Seductive and smooth – a joyous wine that shows energy and concentration.

Winery notes (2019 Vintage)
"In 1992 the Hill-Smith family counted themselves amongst those fortunate enough to own a vineyard upon the famous Coonawarra terra rossa soil over limestone. Experimentation, innovation, minimalist intervention and small batch winemaking has resulted in The Menzies’ reputation as a wine of longevity, elegance and structure.

Deep crimson with a plum hue. Aromas of fresh blackcurrants, mulberry, ozone, violets and exotic spices. Take a sip and you will feel the poise and tension for which great Cabernet is renowned. A wine of great complexity with flavours of blackcurrant jubes, bitter chocolate and mulberries, wrapped in divine tannins and a lovely sweet, dark fruit finish. With decanting in its youth it is enjoyable as an elegant full-bodied red wine.

Matured for 18 months in 20% new French and Hungarian hogsheads and French barriques, balance in 1 year and older French and Hungarian hogsheads and barriques."

94+/100 Tom Kline, WinePilot.com, September 2024 (2019 Vintage)
"From The Menzies Estate vineyard situated in the heart of Coonawarra. Blackcurrant, bay leaf, pan juice umami and whispers of mint are followed by earth, graphite and an underpinning of cedar. A very gratifying mix of fruit and umami savouriness showing nice lift and glide through the palate which is full bodied but fresh. Blackcurrant, cedar, liquorice root and earth make way for tinges of graphite and mocha before gravelly tannins and a burgeoning acidity wrap it up and pull it long through the mouth. Very long, in fact. There’s a lot to like here, for its elegance, savoury complexity, and long, even length. This will show beautifully following a decade in the cellar. Right now, however, It’s screaming out for a perfectly cooked piece of eye fillet. "

95/100 Shanteh Wale, James Halliday's Wine Companion, August 2024 (2019 Vintage)
"​Prune plums and blackcurrants. Violets, lavender leaf and black cherry. Olive tapenade, rosemary and crushed black peppercorn. The wine is held together by a fine mesh of grape and subtle oak tannins, intertwined with pure Coonawarra cabernet fruit. It’s chiselled in its dimension, and you might miss it, as it has such great drinking pleasure. Fruit purity, lovingly handled equals total seduction."

95/100 Mike Bennie, The Wine Front, June 2024 (2019 Vintage)
"Matured in Yalumba made barrels. “A strong year for cabernet in Coonawarra”, offers Louisa Rose, “a warm vintage but not crazy”. So mellow, a sense of distinct control and refinement, tension and precision a force to be reckoned with here. Regal. Dark cherry, blackcurrant, black olive, bay leaf, salt bush, feels refreshing in its way and so very much in the medium weight zone. Quite minerally, touches of pleasing malty woody spices too. Finishes long and distinctly with crushed rock minerality. True charm."