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Dublin, Ireland
Hi, I'm Dermot Nolan, and I became a Master of Wine (MW) in 1997, and resigned from the Institute of Masters of Wine in 2023 after being an MW for exactly 26 years. I opened a wine shop in DĂșn Laoghaire, Ireland, called The Wine Library, which closed in 2018, and this is my personal wine blog. I will do my utmost to be fair and responsible in my posts – please read my Who Pays article in re the ethics of wine trips and writing. I have worked in wine education, retail, and consultancy since 1990. I was a Director of the Institute of Masters of Wine (IMW) from 2008 to 2014 and was also a member of the Events Committee, founder of the Trips Committee, and member of the Governance Committee. Having had problems with potentially libellous comments from unidentifiable posters, I now require that if you post a comment, you must identify yourself properly or it won't be published. Please note that I do not review products or services on request so kindly don't ask. I value my independence and I believe my readers (few that they may be) do so also.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Call a cab

Under the guidance of Rob Mann, a most temperate young winemaker, we tasted two flights of cabernet wines. These were impressive, and showed that there is some pretty high quality cabernet sauvignon in Australia.
Flight 1 was: Mt Mary Quintet Cabernets 2005 (Yarra Valley), Howard Park Abercrombie Cabernet/merlot/cabernet franc 2005 (Great Southern & Margaret River), Cape Mentelle Cabernet 2005 (Margaret River), Woodlands "Colin" Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 (Margaret River), Sandalford Prendiville Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 (Margaret River) and Mouton Rothschild 2005 (Pauillac).
A very successful flight. The Margaret River wines all showed well and both the Cape Mentelle and the Woodlands were lovely wines which would definitely benefit from bottle age. The Mouton stood out for a mineral, lean type of wine in comparison to the other wines, although it was very good to be fair.
Flight 2 was Parker Terra Rossa First Growth 2005 (Coonawarra), Majella The Malleea 2005 (Coonawarra), Henschke Cyril Henschke 2005 (Eden Valley), Wendouree Cabernet Malbec 2005 (Clare Valley), Chateau Reynella Basket Pressed Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 (McLaren Vale) and Penfolds Cellar Reserve 2005 (Barossa). I really liked the Henschke and I still don't get this particular Wendouree wine but, again, this flight worked well.

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