Don’t call it a blend; it’s a marriage. This Marriage feels old school, too, with a style that could have come from 2001. Indeed, the Paulmara Marriage Cabernet Shiraz 2021 is a blend of 50/50 Cab Shiraz from Marananga. Shiraz goes into 100% new French oak, Cabernet into 100% new American. Nineteen months in oak, bottled unfined and unfiltered. Final wine chemistry is – TA 7.2g/L pH 3.56.
It’s a huge decadent Barossa thing, with a 1990s level of new oak (with that unmistakable American oak choc coconut) decadence that permeates through the palate. There is a bit of 707 in the back palate, which you’ll get with that oak combo! It doesn’t smell oaky, just a big hit of dark berry fudge Bounty bar and more that goes from nose to palate before an oaky, warm finish, and the acid is a bit tart (unsurprising with a 7.2g/L total acidity). It’s impressive in its mode, though, with significant impact and weight. It’s a wine to admire, but it’s not my thing.
- Best drinking: Worth a few years to let the oak settle, and then drink over two decades
- Score (out of 20): 17.5
- Score (out of 100): 91
- Alcohol %: 14
- RRP (in $AUD): 60
- Winery website: https://www.paulmara.com.au/
- Would I buy it?: Just a glass
The lowdown
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