In this pack, you’ll receive two bottles each of the 2017 and 2018 vintages.
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.
Stands proudly at the head of the Mount Mary portfolio. A blend of 44% cabernet sauvignon, 30% merlot, 16% cabernet franc and 5% each of malbec and petit verdot, each variety handled according to its structure. Open/static fermenters, wood/stainless steel, 10-14 days on skins, 35% new oak from a range of coopers and forests, 16-20 months in barrel. Mesmerisingly silky, with a kaleidoscope of fruit and secondary flavours.
99 points, Wine Companion (March 2020)
Deep, bright, youthful red/purple colour, with a reserved but stylish bouquet suggesting cedar cigarbox, red fruits, roses, tobacco and a subtle smoked-meat, charcuterie note. The wine is full-bodied and elegantly-framed, with liberal tannins that are soft and fine yet insistent, adding to its prodigious palate length. Gorgeous flavour of blue and red fruits, floral highlights and wonderful cleansing, refreshing tannins that leave you wanting more. It has lip-smacking, appetising qualities. A stunning wine.
98 points, The Real Review (October 2020)
Blackcurrant, cherry, raspberry, violet, an empty box of chocolates, and subtle leafy perfume. Medium-bodied, deft delivery of intense small-berried red and black fruit, tobacco and dried flowers with a discreet seasoning of cocoa, embroidered with pure and vital acidity, fine carbon tannin, and a supremely long and fresh finish. If there were a dictionary of wine, this would be listed under the word ‘class’.
97+ points, The Wine Front (September 2020)
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.
97 points, The Wine Front (September 2019)
Deepish red colour with a tint of purple. The bouquet is cedary, spicy, intense and stylishly oaked. Violets and other floral nuances too. The wine is medium to full-bodied in the mouth, with intensity and brightness, firm grip and length, the effortlessness and great persistence are impressive. It's not a big wine but has plenty of concentration and drive. Masterful stuff. Lovely now, but cellar it for best rewards.
96 points, The Real Review (November 2019)
45% cabernet sauvignon, 30% merlot, 16% cabernet franc, 5% petit verdot and 4% malbec, all vinified separately matured in French oak (35% new) in various larger vessels and vats. The bouquet is gently cedary/savoury, and the palate adds herbal/green olive notes to the finish. It's still to find its feet (all five of them).
95 points, Wine Companion (March 2019)
Yarra Valley
The Yarra Valley was first planted by the Ryrie brothers who explored a way through the Snowy Mountains to the Yarra Valley, planting grapes in 1838 just three years after the foundation of Melbourne. A wine industry (developed by Swiss Settlers particularly Hubert de Castella and Baron Guillaume de Pury in the 1850s) thrived during the gold rush era and heyday of the 19th century. However, the end of the gold rush brought the wine industry into decline and it was not until the 1970’s that the modern wine industry started up again. The region is probably Australia’s best-known cool-climate area, yet it is really a patchwork of meso-climates. This varied topography creates an incredible set of variables. Vineyards are planted on elevations of 50 to 400m on varying aspects and management programmes. The more exposed sites are subject to severe spring frosts and winds. Overall, the area experiences a relatively high rainfall pattern and is known for its temperature extremes during ripening. Site selection is crucial, with the best vineyards often located where the original vines were once planted, generally on sandy clay loams and gravels. The Yarra Valley is well known for high quality Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Cabernet Blends with Shiraz increasingly garnering attention. Sparkling wine production is also extremely important, with many of Australia’s finest examples produced in the region.
