Forest Hill Mount Barker Block 5 Cabernet Sauvignon 2008

Just hear me out for a sec. Block 5. Block 5 wines are fast becoming a marketing tool to so many producers. Don't quote me on this, but I think the first Block 5 in Australia was from Bindi in 1997 - the Bindi Block 5 Pinot Noir 1997 I recall was listed at $400 not so long ago at The Lincoln in Carlton; not bad for a vineyard that was planted in 1992!

Anyway, the Block 5 tag seems to have that marketing 'midas touch'. Here's just a few that I can recall of the top:

• Bindi Block 5 Pinot Noir, Macedon Ranges
• Yabby Lake Block 5 Pinot Noir, Mornington Peninsula
• Felton Road Block 5 Pinot Noir, Central Otago
• Chalice Bridge Chapman Series Block 5 Shiraz/Cabernet, Margaret River
• Saint Clair Pioneer Block 5 Pinot Noir, Marlborough
• Forrest Estate Block 5 Cabernet Sauvignon, Marlborough 

Talk about doing your block!!

So it was about 2 weeks ago that I had a tasting of the new Forest Hill wines from Mount Barker with their very pregnant winemaker Clémence Haselgrove; for me the Springvale Estate Riesling is pound-for-pound one of the best in Australia, but thats for another post. The last wine in the bracket was, now wait for it, the Forest Hill Block 5 Cabernet Sauvignon 2008. Block 5's aside, this is truly a cracking wine.

Deep ox blood colour in the glass, the nose throws up aroma's of whispy mint and eucalypt with the smallest hint of dusty tannins to come. The palate is all Left Bank with subtle blueberry notes woven together with pitch perfect acid, tannins and dry dusty cocoa powder. This wine has all the hallmarks of spending another 20 years in the bottle for plenty of reward.

Drink with shephards pie - I did last night
Drink till 2025+
96
Screwcap 13.5%v/v $60ish

Larry Cherubino Ad Hoc Mt Barker Wallflower Riesling 2009

If you haven't noticed, pretty much all of the Riesling in Australia tastes exactly the same, and thats not me being uber generalist; tight harsh lemon/lime acid with acid and more acid. From Clare Valley to Geelong to the Great Southern and the Derwent Valley, Riesling has been produced in a way where it should be labeled 'Australian citrus wine'. Its a harsh call, but its all I have seen in a bottle for quite some time now.

Enter Larry Cherubino with his Ad Hoc Mt Barker Wallflower Riesling 2009. He has pretty much taken to this sterotype with a crossbow and gone whack; not that you would whack something with a crossbow of course. Yes, there still is the citrus about the wine, but it is not the dominant character, with the minerality of a German Trocken the most appealing character here.

Brimming with soft floral notes, this wine is a lot more feminant than the garden variety Riesling I was talking about at the start, with gentle white oliander prominant on the nose. There is no harsh ascerbic acid up front, instead a lovely and clean addition of river bed pebble - yes, minerals, but I like to describe it as river bed pebble! As with the nose, there is a little citrus, but it does not strip the palate like so many other Rieslings. A seriously good wine.

Drink with pickled octopus
drink till 2014
92
Screwcap 12.1%v/v $22 @ Blackhearts & Sparrows Brunswick