I have a load of Yarra new releases hitting the sample cupboard over the next week or so, and I’m not unhappy about it. I’m judging at the Winewise Championship in Canberra this week, so expect a hiatus of Yarra (and the odd pic of our nation’s capital) in the coming days, but then back on it. Thjis Payne’s Rise Anniversary Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 is so very Yarra too.

A celebration of 20 years of Payne’s Rise, this red comes from the estate vineyard in the Upper Yarra. Franco D’Anna (Hoddles Creek) makes the wines I believe. I like Franco’s wines too, even though he is a Carlton supporter (#goswans). Anyway, this Payne’s Rise red screams Yarra Cab, with great colour (let’s call it a dark ruby), and the nose is true Yarra claret – dusty mint and blackberries. You’ve got to like a bit of mint and bay leaf, as it ripples through the mid-weight palate, with a bit of lift through the middle thanks to some cocoa powder oak. before typically young Cab rawish tannins.

Formative, and very much a wine for the future, I rather like the underlying structure and style here. It’s just a smidgen minty for smashing a bottle now, but the lines of tannins and fruit all match up to something great (and at a very reasonable alcohol level to boot). Like. Will be a gold medal wine with just a few years in the cellar.

Payne’s Rise Anniversary Cabernet Sauvignon 2019. Best drinking: can you wait? Even a year or two. But five years would be better. Then drink over twenty years. 18/20, 93/100+. 13.5%, $55. Would I buy it? Worth a bottle for the cellar.