Posted Jun 9th 2011, 15:51
Campbell Mattinson
2010 Parterre - 93 points
Parterre is a blend of semillon (70 percent) and sauvignon blanc and it sees wild yeast and lots of new oak. I’d imagine that you could cellar this for quite a long time. It screamed flashy new oak – sawdust and cream – at first but it quickly settled down. It then turned all grassy and gravelly on me. There’s toast, lemon and gunsmoke here in abundant measure and it’s penetratingly citric through the finish. Needs some time but it has a serious future ahead of it.
2010 Cabernet Merlot - 92 points
Winemaker Clive Otto sure has made a mark at Fraser Gallop Estate. The value/quality ratio here is high. It comes across as mulberried at first but it quickly firms and fills out into a curranty, pencilly, gravelly burst of smooth, dark red wine. It’s hard not to feel happy about drinking this one. It comes with a hit of drying tannin and decent length and if you like this kind of thing then I’d think that $22 makes it a pretty simple buying decision.