Blame it on the French, but cabernet sauvignon clearly remains the most popular wine grape variety in China despite the fact that Chinese wine drinkers are exploring more different wines than ever before. While a recent Wine Intelligence survey found that 55% of all Chinese urban upper-middle class imported wine drinkers drank cabernet sauvignon in the previous 6 months (down from 58% the year before), the next closest variety is riesling which was drank by 27% of the same audience. Cabernet sauvignon, the key variety behind most top-end wines from Bordeaux, will take some dethroning in China.
Historically it all makes sense. The massive rise in Chinese demand for Bordeaux wines and the stratospheric prices once paid in PRC and Hong Kong for them – the inspiration behind the successful move Red Obsession – was in large measure around the cabernet-based wines of Bordeaux’ left bank. Today in China, in a totally different cultural and economic environment, the allure of cabernet has persisted even if the names (and prices) of the actual wines have changed.
Australian cabernet, because it only rarely attracts the extreme prices of the top-level French, has become a viable and laudable alternative for those seeking to drink well in today’s China. The finest display a structure, elegance, longevity and level of complexity comparable to fine Bordeaux.
Three Australian wine regions stand above the others for cabernet and its related partners of merlot, cabernet franc, petit verdot and malbec. In order of importance at this very moment these are Margaret River, Coonawarra and the Yarra Valley. Margaret River has by far the largest collection of high-end labels, Coonawarra has the incredible Wynns operation plus a small number of high-achieving neighbours while the Yarra Valley boasts a relatively small crowd of outstanding cabernet producers.
Here is one from each region, each of which can be found in China.
Peccavi Cabernet Sauvignon 2013 (Margaret River)
From a stunning refurbished vineyard comes this remarkable, artfully structured and superbly balanced cabernet whose heady, faintly earthy bouquet of fresh cassis, dark plums and cherries knits tightly with smoky, cedary oak, gravelly undertones and bright floral scents. Underpinned by a crunchy, grainy backbone, its perfectly ripened flavours of black and red berries are handsomely backed by cigarboxy oak, extending long and drying towards a persistent, astringent finish. An outstanding cellaring prospect with an Old World feel.
Bowen Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2014
A top-drawer cabernet with remarkable intensity, poise and structure. To my mind reminiscent of the classic 1984 release of the same label, this delivers the depth of fruit sought after in great Coonawarra cabernet but with the structure and balance more reminiscent of Bordeaux. Its penetrative aromas of cassis, mulberries, dark plums and fresh cedar/vanilla oak reveal dusty, faintly herbal nuances, while its palate-staining presence of small black and red berries is framed by an exceptional spine of drying, chalky tannins that culminate in a graphite-like minerality. It will live and develop for ages.
Yeringberg Yeringberg Cabernet Blend 2014
A classical Yarra cabernet blend of style and structure. Its opulent perfume of violets, cassis, dark plums and fresh cedary and faintly cigarboxy oak is both pure and briary, already delivering intensity and complexity. Supremely long and elegant, with aristocratic bearing and balance, its searing length of dark, faintly sour-edged fruit is underpinned by a firm, tight-grained spine and soaks up its handsome measure of French oak. Finishing with purity and focus, it’s set to age and develop for the long term.
