An enigma because varieties like Cabernet and Riesling express themselves in ways not previously seen. Both are varieties associated with cooler regions and this is puzzling as Clare is far north. The key is the altitude. Famous also for Shiraz.
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‘The Regions’ Clare Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2021
$14.80One our best ever purchases came late last year which I termed ‘the five star winery haul’ and that is the source of this beautiful Clare Valley Cabernet-a five star winery. As for the source, well our lips are sealed.
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Vine to Glass Clare Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2020 15%
Original price was: $14.80.$10.00Current price is: $10.00.Do not make a tasting error by overlooking this red. The origin we cannot reveal as it is part of ‘the five star red haul’ we stumbled across a few months ago and a condition of purchase is no publicity. The winery is rated at five stars.
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Cellar Range Clare Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2022
Original price was: $14.50.$11.00Current price is: $11.00.Back in October we were given our choice of barrels of Clare Valley reds from a five-star rated winery. While they retained the very best to be able to select what we wanted from the rest we knew was a rare honour.
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Dolan, Sobels & Hope ‘Squatters Three’ Clare Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2020
$13.80This Cabernet is part of the five star red haul that we purchased over 2024. The Cabernet is made in the manner of the Leasingham Bin 56 of the 1970s-1980s.
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Auld & Burton Clare & Barossa Valley Cabernet Merlot 2017
$12.20At Glug, wines come and go quickly. Here we have used two varieties from two regions in various proportions. I find more Clare in the final blend than Barossa so look for a touch less heat and higher altitude flavours. Finally explaining the Clare flavours continues to defy me.
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Auld & Burton Barossa Valley Shiraz Mataro 2014
Original price was: $12.80.$9.80Current price is: $9.80.The oldest Mataro vines date back to around 1892 though it was a popular variety in previous eras as a productive, non-irrigated bush vine this before the arrival of trellised vine rows and drip irrigation. We do know that the early makers of Barossa Valley Shiraz added 10-15% of Mataro to many blends as they found this added strength and character to the wine. So Mataro was the variety which was never on the label yet was always in red wine.
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Fareham Estates Clare Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2022
$15.60A big rich, juicy Cabernet, minty, intense flavours, being part of the ‘five star red haul’ we stumbled across in mid-2024. Five stars being the winery rating of the wine writer James Halliday. Halliday published ‘Clare Valley-the history the vignerons and the wines’, in 1985. He devotes a section to Fareham Estate which was founded in 1966.
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Fareham Estate Clare Valley Shiraz 2022
$15.40There is something about the geography of the Clare Valley and how this reacts with the climate that finds its way into the Shiraz and Cabernet. They bring to the glass an additional and unusual fragrance, a minty delicacy, which is quite thrilling.
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Glug ‘Broken Slate’ Clare Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2020
$14.70Combine this with the elevation of the Clare wine district and add in weather that brings the heat of the inland south, and you have a mix of elements ripening the grapes that creates unusual and magnificent flavours. In this way the Cabernet has a minty Clare twist to the flavour and a depth of colour like no other Cabernet region.
