Jacaranda Ridge is Orlando’s label for its best Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon. As such, it is only bottled in exceptional vintages such as 1998. This particular vintage met with considerable show success, which explains why the label is literally festooned with medals and trophies. Notwithstanding its show record, it is a wine that divided opinion, many considering the wine to be over-oaked.
As to the wine, 14 year on from vintage it is still deeply coloured, suggesting relatively little development. The nose is rather muted; regional menthol, earthy notes and a touch of mulberry. Suffice to say, the nose doesn’t quite deliver on expectations. The palate too, is rather underwhelming, revealing little by way of depth or complexity.
Oak doesn’t dominate, and this particular bottle doesn’t seem to have suffered from mild cork taint, nor is it ‘dead on arrival’. It is an uninspiring bottle of a wine that should be giving more. This is a case of a wine that raises more questions than it answers, and the only solution is to crack another bottle and see how it performs.
1998 JACARANDA RIDGE CABERNET SAUVIGNON
Producer: Orlando
Variety: Cabernet Sauvignon et al
Vintage: 1998
Region: Coonawarra, South Australia
ABV: 14.0%
Closure: Natural Cork
Format: 750ml
Retail price: N/a
Date tasted: 30 June 2012
Tasting Note:
Deep ruby red, lightening just slightly toward the rim. Plenty of menthol on the nose, together with mulberry and freshly tilled red earth. Dry, medium bodied, mulberry, cassis, again slightly earthy. Not as expressive as one would expect a wine of this level to be, but no issues with the cork. A decent enough showing, but hard to judge where this wine is at presently, perhaps moving from primary to secondary?
Score: 15?/20
As to the wine, 14 year on from vintage it is still deeply coloured, suggesting relatively little development. The nose is rather muted; regional menthol, earthy notes and a touch of mulberry. Suffice to say, the nose doesn’t quite deliver on expectations. The palate too, is rather underwhelming, revealing little by way of depth or complexity.
Oak doesn’t dominate, and this particular bottle doesn’t seem to have suffered from mild cork taint, nor is it ‘dead on arrival’. It is an uninspiring bottle of a wine that should be giving more. This is a case of a wine that raises more questions than it answers, and the only solution is to crack another bottle and see how it performs.
1998 JACARANDA RIDGE CABERNET SAUVIGNON Producer: Orlando
Variety: Cabernet Sauvignon et al
Vintage: 1998
Region: Coonawarra, South Australia
ABV: 14.0%
Closure: Natural Cork
Format: 750ml
Retail price: N/a
Date tasted: 30 June 2012
Tasting Note:
Deep ruby red, lightening just slightly toward the rim. Plenty of menthol on the nose, together with mulberry and freshly tilled red earth. Dry, medium bodied, mulberry, cassis, again slightly earthy. Not as expressive as one would expect a wine of this level to be, but no issues with the cork. A decent enough showing, but hard to judge where this wine is at presently, perhaps moving from primary to secondary?
Score: 15?/20
1 comment:
Left it tooo long...
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