Alkoomi

Blackbutt Cabernet Merlot Cabernet Franc

• 

  Vintage 2010
  95 points

80% cabernet sauvignon, 14% malbec, 5% cabernet franc and 1% merlot, fermented separately in small open vats, hand-plunged, matured in French oak for 20 months. The colour is still fresh, and sets the agenda for the bouquet and palate with cassis and cedary oak, the two main games in town, soft and ripe tannins initially ignored because of that ripeness. All up, a 6yo wine looking like a 3yo, but also ready for work.

• 

  Vintage 2010
  94 points

Alkoomi's Blackbutt has long been one of Frankland River's most important reds. A blend of cabernet sauvignon, malbec, cabernet franc and a drop of merlot, we consider ourselves fortunate to have secured a parcel of the excellent 2010 vintage. The colour indicates immediately that age has not wearied it. In fact, it's approaching the peak of its powers. The wine floats easily across the palate with its amalgum of plum confiture, blackberry, gunpowder, leather, mushroom, black earth, vanilla and toasty mocha complexity. A Western Australian icon that should not be ignored.