Paringa Cabernet Sauvignon boasts fine vintage, great price

Top Australian importer The Grateful Palate is on a hot streak again.

This Paringa Cabernet Sauvignon, from a single vineyard curiously called Individual, is only one of many fantastic Australian wines it is responsible for bringing to the United States.

Not only does The Grateful Palate have what I consider to be one of the best portfolios, loaded with Australian "cult" favorites, it is savvy enough to give the everyday wine drinker something to enjoy as well.

Paringa is owned by the Hickinbotham family, which has one of the finest shiraz vineyards in Australia, aptly named after it.

When a wine of this quality comes around from a top vintage and with a good price, there is going to be a run on it. Luckily for us, there is a good allocation in Nevada.

In the glass, Paringa Cabernet Sauvignon is a deeply opaque blackish-red color with streaks of violet going out into a deep purplish-pink rim definition and ultrahigh viscosity.

On the nose, the wine explodes with crushed blackberries, crème de cassis, vanilla, oak references, black cherries, soft red plums, spice notes, licorice components and minerals.

On the palate, there are powerfully extracted crushed black berry fruits dominated by spicy black currants, wild cherries, brambleberries and sloe fruit, with good amounts of acidity. The midpalate is supple and quite delicious to discover, leading into a rounded finish with a soft tannin touch, revealing yet more cassis and currant notes.

This is a wine that will drink well during the next three to four years, and be a great match for almost anything that rhymes with steak on the grill.

Wine: Paringa Cabernet Sauvignon Individual Vineyard

Grape: Cabernet sauvignon

Region: Renmark, south Australia

Vintage: 2005

Price: $7.99

Gil Lempert-Schwarz's wine column appears Wednesdays. Write him at P.O. Box 50749, Henderson, NV 89016-0749, or e-mail him at gil@winevegas.com.