2008 Mawson's Wrattonbully Cabernet Sauvignon

Tonight we have the time change, where we get to lose an hour of sleep so that farmers in the 19th century would have more daylight to plant and harvest their crops, and apparently now it helps with greenhouse gas emissions or global warming or some other hokum.  All I know is that I'm getting up effectively an hour early on one of two days a week I actually get to sleep in!  Man I could use a glass of wine to get ready for this...

Oh yes that's right, this is a wine blog!  And tonight, to celebrate the loss of an hour, I'm enjoying a wine from the land down under, a place where if you traveled there you'd lose the better part of a day, let alone an hour!  Tonight's feature is the 2008 Mawson's Wrattonbully Cabernet Sauvignon.  This is an interesting wine for it's names, Sir Douglas Mawson was a famous Australian explorer who embarked on expeditions to the Antarctic in the early 20th century.  Wrattonbully is an emerging wine region in south Australia along the Limestone Coast.  Certainly Australia has produced some absolutely wonderful wines, particularly their Shiraz, and more common now their Merlots and Cabernets.

This wine is a wonderful ruby red color in the glass and exhibits a nose of leather, oak, dried herbs and subtle fruit, cherry and blackberry.  I was expecting some bright fruit at the outset, but this one surprised me, as the taste of cassis was quite subdued, with a touch of berry at the high notes.  Mid-palate, there is a touch of woodiness, followed by well integrated tannins for a nice smooth finish.  Based on prior experience with Australian Cabs, I was expecting this wine to be much more fruit forward, but somewhat less bold that a typical California Cab, but this one is really elegant, medium bodied and subtle in unexpected ways.  It's the kind of wine that would be shocked and ashamed if it overpowered the dish it accompanies, rather I envision that it would provide a playful counterpart for a variety of savory dishes, from lamb or braised short ribs, to a hearty steak or a variety of seafood dishes.  Tonight I am enjoying it with some cod, rice and steamed asparagus. 

Overall, I would rate this one a solid 8, especially at the price, I bought a lot of 4 bottles from wineshopper.com for $40.  The only negative was the screw cap, but for $10 and a lovely wine, I'm willing to overlook that discretion!