Released to mark the wineries 20th year anniversary, I believe these vines were 5 years old when the grapes for this wine were harvested. Every wine lover should visit Casley Mt. Hutton cellar door as here you can taste some quite aged Granite Belt wines and purchase them at very reasonable prices.
I’m not aware of another local winery that offers wines of such age, so this is a unique Granite Belt Wine experience.
The glass shows a wine in tertiary development with bricking at the meniscus and red with some brownish tinges elsewhere. The bouquet immediately tells you that here is an aged wine in very good shape. Wafting freely and friendly are delightful red cherries, leather, earth and still some background toasty oak and, if you can stay with the bouquet and explore it enough you can actually feel a textural succulence caress your nasal senses – sense of smell is an amazingly complex filtering system.
A lovely elegant and sensual palate awaits you as this wine opens up and just seems to plant soft kisses around the interior of your mouth. There are ripe raspberries, red currants and red cherries and a little black pepper. This is unashamedly an expressive elegant wine, don’t go looking for bold black fruits and powerful tannins here but instead linger in the lovely long lusciousness of this almost languorous and effortless wine. The tannins are ripe and with a silky feel, some acid is still present but it’s just a background driver in combination with the supportive background oak. There is still a small amount of drying on the quite late palate from the tannins.
The 12% a/v in collocation with the smooth ripeness and 20 year development of this wine presents a long elegant wine with a little timidity in its power but don’t be deceived as power and elegance can indeed co-exist. Congratulations to Grant and Sonya Casley for 20 years achievement and for holding back wines of such character and presenting them at the cellar door.
Tasted: Saturday 31st July, 2021 without food and then with over several hours.
Alcohol: 12%
Closure: Screwcap
Price: $46
Suggested Drinking Window: now to 2025
Winemaker: Grant Casley
Fruit Source: Estate
Oak: New and Old American
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