2002 Mount Mary Quintet Red Blend 750ml

Overview

Mount Mary Quintet is a Bordeaux-style red blend from the Yarra Valley, Victoria. The 2002 vintage combines red-fruited and herbal characters with a pronounced acid line reflecting the cooler year, supported by firm, grippy tannins.

Producer Tasting Notes

“Leafiness, red fruits and slate. Nice balance on palate with great blend of herbs and fruits and grippy tannin. Pronounced acid highlighting a cooler year draws length to the finish.” — Producer Tasting Notes

Critic Reviews

94/100 — Falstaff
Tasted November 2005
“One of Australia's most independent, original, expensive and sought-after wines. Dark ruby garnet, violet reflections. Ripe, opulent fruit on the nose, ranging from redcurrants and strawberries to plums, liquorice, strong charcoal toast, pepper, vanilla pods, enormously complex. Initially rather slender on the palate, very lively acidity structure, intense red berries, cedar wood, still somewhat unbalanced in its youth. Famous for its development in the bottle, is considered to have enormous ageing potential, comes from a very cool corner of Australia. Virtually impossible to find on the market.”

93/100 — CellarTracker

Specifications

• Vintage: 2002
• Grape Variety: Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, Petit Verdot
• Region: Yarra Valley, Victoria, Australia
• Alcohol: 14%
• Sweetness: Dry
• Maturation: Oaked
• Ownership: David Middleton
• Drinking Window: 2007–2022

Australia's premier cool climate Cabernet. It was John Middleton's dream to create such a wine and purchased the Mount Mary property in the Yarra Valley in 1971 to persue this dream. Quintet is his dream realised and is a blend of the classic Bordeaux varieties of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec.

Quintet is a classically proportioned style based on five classic Bordeaux varieties; Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Merlot and Petit Verdot. The wine exhibits a purity of fruit, poise, elegance and structure found in few Australian Cabernets with cedar and blackcurrant "small fruit" aromas, fine-grained savoury tannins, superb vinosity and flavour length. Naturally balanced, well-concentrated and classically proportioned, the wine has a great reputation for longevity.

The grapes are hand harvested, lightly crushed, totally destemmed, fermented in both open and closed fermenters with careful temperature control and frequent pumping over. Malolactic fermentation takes place once primary fermentation is completed. After the lees have settled, the wine is de-vatted to 30% new French oak barriques and 70% large format oak casks in its first year. In its second year, the wine is racked into seasoned two to six-year-old barriques for 10 months.