The 9th Chamber is Devil’s Lair’s new flagship Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon, produced from a single parcel that saw extended skin contact and all new oak. Sexy new packaging, serious price – the whole kit and kaboodle.

Gee this looks every bit the flagship too. Deep, dark red, it takes the normal, mid-weight Devil’s Lair fruit and adds in more new oak cocoa powder and more swagger. The palate also has an extra gear with dark, leafy, backwards heavy set fruit and drying, butch tannins before a raw, raspy, slightly warm finish.

If anything this is slightly too brutish, stamped with the eucalypt and leaf of southern Margaret River fruit. The alcohol and tannins are a raw kick in the tail too Still, the way that oak is swallowed up, plus the flow of fruit and tannins, are more classified Bordeaux than standard Devil’s Lair.

High quality wine.

Details: 14.5%, Screwcap, $119.99. Drink: 2020-2030. Score: 18.6/20, 95/100. Would I buy it? The price is high, but the quality is up there too. Wouldn’t mind a few of these in the cellar.
Buy Devil’s Lair 9th Chamber Cabernet Sauvignon 2011 online: Devil’s Lair website