Wine of the Week: Rawson’s Retreat Cabernet Sauvignon
Wine: Rawson’s Retreat Cabernet Sauvignon
Grape: Cabernet sauvignon
Region: South Australia
Vintage: 2013
Price: $4.99
Availability: Lee’s Discount Liquor
In the glass: Rawson’s Retreat wine is a deep purplish-red color with an opaque crimson core, going out into a saturated ruby-red rim definition with medium-high viscosity.
On the nose: There are massive notes of crushed pure cassis with a wonderful underlying expression of cabernet fruit, lots of eucalyptus hints, blackberries, black plums, phenols, earth-driven minerals, pipe tobacco, spice box and cedar wood also present.
On the palate: It is a big mouthful of wine with a tasty attack of black currants, wild cherries, loganberries and soft blueberry notes going into a greatly balanced midpalate that again shows so much character in this wine. The finish is quite impressive, lingering for a good 20-plus seconds with lovely delineation of black fruit, anise and mint leaf. While this wine is still a bit of a baby, it comes right out of the bottle in a highly drinkable fashion.
Odds and ends: When Dr. Christopher Rawson founded a wine company named Penfolds in 1844, he could not possibly have foreseen the success this Australian wine giant was to achieve more than 150 years later. His house, known as Magill Estate, is the centerpiece heritage site of Penfolds today. As the brand has expanded widely during the past two decades in particular, the need for more accessible everyday drinking wines has become apparent. Gone are the days when Australian wines were on fire in the U.S. market and it’s been sobering for the wine industry Down Under. Penfolds itself has undergone quite a bit of transformation. Yes, they still produce Grange, Australia’s most iconic wine, and a range of other so-called Bin number wines, but as the market has changed, more mainstream lines, like this Rawson’s Retreat, have been successfully launched. It is all about the expression of an Australian cabernet sauvignon, which originated in Bordeaux, France. The Australian version has a distinct character that almost always can be picked out of a blind tasting, given its penchant to show more eucalyptus notes. It is a great little overachiever of a wine at less than $5, and a match made in heaven for a big juicy medium-rare hamburger. Drink it now through 2018.
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.
