Morambro Creek Cabernet Sauvignon

Wine: Morambro Creek Cabernet Sauvignon.

Grape: Cabernet sauvignon

Region: Padthaway, Southern Australia

Vintage: 2003

Price: $7.99

In the glass: Morambro Creek wine is a densely opaque blackish-red color with a charcoal-deep core going out into a firm, slightly tinged rim definition with high viscosity.

On the nose: All the wonderfully mature black fruit comes at you with a great scent attack lead by bramble, black plum compote, black truffle oil, tanned leather, ground licorice root and tons of earthy minerality and graphite underlying.

On the palate: This is a serious mouthful of wine with an amazingly dense concentration of crushed black fruits, mature plums, black cherries, certainly black currant liqueur and rounded tannins. The midpalate is big and firm with tons of licorice again -- a signature for Australian wines -- and a finish that lingers nicely with some phenolics and a touch of sloe gin on the end.

Odds and ends: It has been awhile since I found an Australian wine that is interesting enough to do a column about, but this Morambro Creek Cab seems to have all the elements and then some, because it was an outstanding wine in a tasting to determine some great value selections for fall. The Padthaway wine region is an interesting one, because it is farther south than the famous Barossa Valley, but closer to the coast and enjoys a cooler climate. It is between Adelaide and Melbourne and the cabernet sauvignon grown there is close to European climates and does very well. Finding this wine from the great 2003 vintage still in the market and having the chance to taste it at the peak of maturity is in itself a treat, but then discovering it for less than $8, which is one-third of the original price, is even better. This is a wonderful full-bodied wine that will be a great accompaniment to a nice charbroiled rib-eye steak. Drink it through this year and next.

Gil Lempert-Schwarz's wine column appears Wednesdays. Write him at P.O. Box 50749, Henderson, NV 89106-0749, or email him at gil@winevegas.com.