2023 Wantirna Estate Amelia Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot
2023 Wantirna Estate Amelia Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot

2023 Wantirna Estate Amelia Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot

97 pts
Wantirna Estate |Yarra Valley |Cabernet Sauvignon
Cult-favourite Cabernet from the outskirts of the Yarra Valley. This classic, elegant blend will evolve beautifully in the cellar.
5.0
Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars
1 Review
Price:
$112.00
Stock:
In stock, ready to ship
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Description

The Amelia is a classic Wantirna blend, led by Cabernet Sauvignon with Merlot, Cabernet Franc and a small amount of Petit Verdot. Much of the fruit comes from vines planted in 1963, with Petit Verdot added from a 1989 block. The old vines are dry-grown, their roots reaching deep into clay soils for moisture - a key to the wine’s depth and balance.

The 2023 vintage sits around 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and Cabernet Franc, and 5% Petit Verdot. It was aged in French oak and bottled after careful blending.

The wine shows blackcurrant and red plum fruit, with notes of tobacco leaf, violet and gentle spice. The tannins are fine and even, supported by bright acidity that gives freshness through the finish.

It’s approachable now but built to age gracefully for at least fifteen years.

Erin Larkin

Erin Larkin

The Wine Advocate 96 Points

The 2023 Amelia Cabernet Sauvignon is leafy and spiced on the nose, with cassis and bramble, graphite and tobacco and delicate notes of cracked black pepper, pomegranate and cherry. This is floral and medium-bodied yet structured by tannins that feel eminently pulverized into the fruit—not a frame, rather a skeleton. I recently had the pleasure of a 1991 Cabernet Merlot from Wantirna Estate, and it was utterly fantastic. A perfect wine that moved into its apogee the following day. It was elegant, intense and incredibly fresh and a bitter disappointment to reach the end of the bottle. From that experience, one could surmise that the drinking window will span 30 or more years with ease. It is so pretty and unforced. 13% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.

Philip Rich

Philip Rich

Halliday Wine Companion 97 Points

A 45/45/10% cabernet sauvignon/merlot and cabernet franc/petit verdot blend with the majority coming off the original dry-grown 1963 plantings. A fabulous, bright crimson/purple. A touch riper and richer than the '22. There's a sumptuous core of dark fruits, violets, cedar and fresh pencil shavings on the nose. It's just as enticing on the perfectly pitched, medium bodied, elegant and very persistent palate. Everything is in place for a long and productive life!

Gary Walsh

Gary Walsh

The Wine Front 96 Points

Blackcurrant, raspberry, redcurrant, lots of pencils, a dusty spicy almost peppery top note, roast red capsicum, some menthol, violets too. It’s medium-bodied, very tight with cool glassy acidity, again those pencils and dark tobacco, a fine grainy grip to tannin, with a crunchy cranberry finish of excellent length. It’s a vintage where the Cabernet Franc perfume and brightness seems to ride quite high, and I like that sort of thing very much. And the pencils. I love pencils in my Cabernets. It’s finely-etched and classic in its Yarra Valley restraint. I reckon it’s tops.

Nick Ryan

Nick Ryan

The Weekend Australian 97 Points

Cabernet as drawn by MC Escher, exquisitely etched, scrawling volumes into the tiny details. Mulberry and cassis, fennel seed and bay leaf, violets pressed between dusty tissue paper. A diaphanous sheath of fruit deftly draped over a compact and composed framework. Lovely fine acid line and microfine tannins that sit effortlessly in the wine.

Customer Reviews

5.0
Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars
Based on 1 review
Total 5 star reviews: 1 Total 4 star reviews: 0 Total 3 star reviews: 0 Total 2 star reviews: 0 Total 1 star reviews: 0
1 review
  • BW
    Ben W.
    Verified Buyer
    2 weeks ago
    Reviewing
    2022 Wantirna Estate Amelia Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot
    Rated 5 out of 5 stars
    Fantastic Bordeaux blends

    One of the best Bordeaux blends from Australia, probably on par with the Mount Mary Quintet and Yarra Yering Dry Red No.1. Always getting a bottle of these each year for the cellar!

    Was this helpful?

A large proportion of the grapes for this wine come from the original 1963 plantings of cabernet sauvignon, merlot and cabernet franc vines. The remainder is from the more recently planted – 1989 – petit verdot. Whilst the proportions are different every year, depending on fruit set and cropping levels, roughly speaking the break down is about as follows: 65% cabernet sauvignon, 30% cabernet franc and merlot, and 5% petit verdot. The addition of the petit verdot grapes in the 1990s gave the wine an added backbone of tannin and natural acidity. With its long growing season, the petit verdot grapes are the last to be harvested, usually in mid April.

The vines for the Amelia are all dry farmed – that is, there is no irrigation. The roots go deep into the clay soil, searching out any available moisture. This and the age of the vines is crucial to making the intense yet elegant wine.

The wine is approachable young but will age for more than fifteen years.

Price Bracket $101 and Above
Type Red
Body Medium Bodied
Variety Cabernet Sauvignon
Country Australia
Region Yarra Valley
Australian State VIC
Reviewed By Halliday Wine Companion
The Weekend Australian
The Wine Front
Critic Score 97
Alcohol 13%
Size 750ml
Vintage 2023
Closure Screw Cap

Wantirna Estate

Wantirna Estate is a family affair, founded in 1963 by Reg and Bertina Egan.

This bucolic old-world-inspired vineyard is located not far from Melbourne town centre; now surrounded by suburbia, the proverbial rose amongst the thorns.

Now run primarily by Reg and Bertina's daughter Maryann, the estate produces a small premium range of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and classic medium-bodied Bordeaux blends that are elegant, classic and exceptional options for the cellar.

Reg describes their vineyard as a "never-ending world of change and enchantment".

Reg & Maryann Egan Wantirna Estate

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