Mount Mary Quintet 2006, Lilydale, Victoria

(photo: Charlie Lo)

If you like St. Juliens, you may have a palate for Mount Mary Quintet. Patricularly so in my view with Mount Mary Quintet 2006, with a close encounter of quite some vintages years back with Hong Kong Wine Society. Perhaps no further ink needs to be spilt again on this very elegant wine. See for the 2 very appropriate tastings. RP94+.

Jeremy Oliver 97 points! A terrific wine of superb balance and focus. Its smoky bouquet of small dark berries and plums overlies nuances of mushrooms, minerals and restrained cedary oak. Supremely long, elegant and fine-grained, it still presents remarkable depth and richness of dark cherry, plum and berry flavour underpinned by fine crunchy tannins, nuances of dried herbs and suggestions of briar and undergrowth. It finishes with exceptional length and tight-knit acidity.” Jeremy Oliver

eRobertParker 94 points! "Comprised of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot, 17% Cabernet Franc and small proportions of Malbec and Petit Verdot, the 2006 Quintet spent 22 months in barrel, 30% of which was large format and just 30% new oak. Winemaker Rob Hall explained that John Middleton liked this wine to come in at around 12.5% alcohol if at all possible and of course it can be a challenge to get phenolics ripe at this level of lightness. But if anyone can do it in this area, Mount Mary can – this vintage came in at a modest 12.9%. Deep garnet in color, this wine has restrained aromas of cassis, dried Mediterranean herbs, graphite and loam plus pinches of cardamom and cloves. Light to medium-bodied with high acid and medium-firm finely grained tannins, this wine finishes very long. It’s still a little tight knit and needs 2-3 years to open, thereafter evolving through the next 8-10 years and keeping to 2024+."