2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Mother's Ruin
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Tasting notes
The 2018 Mother's Ruin Cabernet Sauvignon is creamy and concentrated, with a flayed meat/fruitcake spice character through the finish. Starting to show some age-derived evolution, this is savory and sweet at once. While I like some of the age characters, I'd suggest hitting this at its youngest, as I feel the freshness of the fruit would be preferable to the soft edges here.
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Julia Harding MW, jancisrobinson.com
Erin Larkin, Wine Advocate
More reviews and scores
Full bottle 1,283 g. Screwcap. Joch’s vineyard is in the Willunga foothills in the south of the McLaren Vale – 130 m above sea level on deep alluvial stony clay loam. The fruit is crushed/destemmed and fermented at temperatures ranging from 20 to 25 °C for 10 days on skins. At the end of fermentation, it is drained/pressed, and transferred to 10% new French oak barriques, and the balance to three- and four-year-old French oak hogsheads to undergo MLF. Post MLF, sulphur dioxide is added, and the wines mature sur lie for 18 months. This wine was bottled in October 2019. Deep purplish crimson. Minty blackcurrant fruit soaring from the glass. Firm, Cabernet tannins are compact but smoothed by the oak. Deep, rich and yet fresh thanks to a minty herbaceous side to the blackcurrant. A big mouthful of fruit but avoiding unwanted sweetness with that minty freshness. A big wine but well balanced for the longer term. Mouth-watering finish. (JH)