I am just finishing off a bottle of one of the very best Cabernet Sauvignon wines I have ever had.  I was very fortunate to have bought 21 bottles of this wine and have about 18 left.  It was one of those deals where I tasted the wine, knew it was a winner, and the wine maker was willing to deal as he was ready to be stocking and selling more current vintages.  I paid $45 per bottle for it and it was a steal!  It compares with imported Cabernet Sauvignon and Bordeaux blends which cost several hundred dollars per bottle.

It is truly an amazing wine.  I shared a bottle last year with one of my friends who is a wine judge and critic and likes his Cabernet Sauvignon wine.  He called it ‘ethereal.’  The wine I am referring to is the 2005 Saddler’s Creek Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon.

This wine has large tannins for a Cabernet Sauvignon and coats the inside of your cheeks providing a very long finish.  It possesses strong blackberry and boysenberry flavors.  While more robust than elegant Grand Cru Bordeaux’s, it is still refined, beautifully balanced and ripe with giant, live fruit flavors.

I had this wine with a Waygu cheeseburger a few nights ago and it would go great with almost any cut of firm and slightly marbled steak.  This wine is also drinkable on its own as it is so ripe in fruit – it is almost a meal in itself!

I will be careful to allocate this wine over a long period of time as it has at least another ten years of optimum drinking pleasure.  It is a pure delight to drink.  I have had the bottle open for three days now and it is as fresh as when I opened it.

The grapes for this wine are from Langhorne Creek which is well known for some great Cabernet Sauvignon wines.  I drink more Shiraz than Cabernet Sauvignon, but this is a full-bodied red wine and truly enjoyable.  There are not many Cabernet Sauvignon wines or blends you can chew on, but this is one of them.

I have searched high and low and have not found this wine for sale anywhere and expect that most stock has been consumed.  There may be some in a private cellar or two similar to mine, but it will be a difficult wine to source, so I am almost reluctant to promote its praises.  But I wanted to in case you ever do come across a bottle, you will know to scoop it up without question.

Or if you want to try a bottle, then convince me to have a dinner with you, bring a great bottle yourself and I will bring a bottle of the 2005 Saddler’s Creek Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon to share!

Steve Shipley, author Wine Sense, out early 2014. Published by InkIT Publishing
© 2014.  Steve Shipley
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