Mount Mary Quintet 2017

It’s 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 16% Cabernet Franc, 5% Malbec, 4% Petit Verdot. Mount Mary has hit a purple patch with their Quintet over the past few vintages, and their Royal Purpleness continues in 2017.  Such perfume. It’s head-spinningly fragrant. I’m thinking violet, cigar box, nougat, spicy biscuits, mint, chocolate and sweet wet earth, along with a core of intense raspberry, cherry and blackcurrant. It’s medium bodied, lithe but dense, rich cherry chocolate sprinkled with baking spices, crisp cranberry acidity, high pixel tannin, sweetness of fruit with a savoury ferrous edge. The finish is supremely long, all graphite and perfume, crisp definition and aniseed trailing in the aftertaste. Fine and rare. Drink: 2025 – 2047.  97 points – Gary Wash, The Wine Front

This hits the upper register of vintage quality for this wine, showing a very fresh, youthful and attractive array of redder fruit with gentle, cedary-oak overtones and a light, earthy edge. The palate is so silky and elegant; the fine, ribbon-like tannins hold long and true. A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, merlot, Malbec and Petit Verdot. Best from 2025. 96 points – Nick Stock, JamesSuckling.com June 2019

From the five key Bordeaux red varieties, this is an Australian classic, right on form in 2017. It’s medium full-bodied and elegant, scented with cedar, violets and spices. It’s not big, but intense and quite powerful, with a long carry. Leaves an impression of effortless balance. Cellar from 2-20 years. Huon Hooke, Gourmet Traveller Wine, Feb/Mar 2020