Wine Review - 2013 Paringa Cabernet Sauvignon: Tongue Coating Cab

This is yet another selection from the 2014 NSLC Port of Wines Festival.  We didn't get to a lot of the Australia table overall but there were some highlights and we felt like this wine was one of them.  Australia gets a lot of attention during the show with very drinkable and palate friendly wines but for a few years we didn't feel like they deserved the hype.  We found a lot of over ripe and hot wines with too much jam in their reds and over-oaked whites.  We think Aussie wineries are getting the message that some jam and oak are great but too much doesn't keep people coming back for more.

This Cabernet has a deep purple verging on black colour in the glass.
The wine is very thick in the glass though the legs on the swirl are super speedy. It looks like a rich, thick luscious wine.

The nose on this wine is pure strawberry jam. We're wary of that jam smell but it is combined with blackberries and black cherries and is quite attractive. There is a clean smell to the wine where the alcohol freshens the nose.  Finally there is an oak component that rounds out the smells in the glass.

As for flavours we found that jam again but you know what it's not bad. Shiraz takes that jam sweetness and structure a bit more readily than Cabernet but it's okay.  It is slightly sweet at the start but the familiar essence of Cabernet comes through pretty quickly.  The violets and vanilla hit your tongue on the mid-palate and it definitely has a tongue coating finish that walks up to being bitter but stays just on the right side of bold.

	Tasting Notes:	Score:
Sight (0-5)	Deep purple verging on black with a thickness and speedy legs in the glass.	4.0
Smell (0-5)	Strawberry Jam combined with blackberries and black cherries with a clean and oaky finish.	4.0
Taste (0-10)	Jammy for a Cab with a sweet start and a violets and vanilla mid-palate and a bold and tongue coating finish.	8.0
	Total:	16 / 20 (80%)

At $21 we feel like this is just a hair high for the price. It's tasty but if it were $17 or $18 we would say no question it's a buy.  Good to drink on it's own but that jamminess makes it a less food friendly than we would expect from a Cab.

Keep on tasting!

Chris & Shannon