A $15 bargain Clare Valley Cabernet for those who drink what’s in the bottle rather than the label or the price tag. For those of you who care about such things it’s from a five star rated winery and we snapped it up and bottled it in the Barossa.
This Glug ‘The Barn’ Clare Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 is a very great wine.
First some background. Cabernet Sauvignon appeared around Bordeaux, France in the 17th Century and was widely planted by the 18th Century. Since Bordeaux reds are considered some of the greatest made it is natural that plantings have spread across the globe. Most locations try to mirror the climate of the source region Bordeaux, France which is on the southern coast though inland for protection from the worst of the Atlantic weather. Margaret River most closely resembles the Bordeaux type location.
Most if not all Australian regions, even those with a different climate to Bordeaux, grow some Cabernet. Which brings us to the Clare Valley which has the oddest location yet makes its own amazing versions from cooler varieties like Cabernet, Riesling and even Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay.
Clare wines just defy the tenants of cool climate viticulture being far north along the Adelaidean Mount Lofty Range. The altitude saves the region and the Cabernet wines speak for themselves – recall the Stanley Leasingham Bin 49 Cabernets.
We purchased a collection of Cabernets collection from Clare because we were swept away by their complexity and density. Not Bordeaux, not Coonawarra. Simply their own fabulous creations. Snap this wine up.
