1988 MITCHELTON CAB MAC Wholesale Price: $62.50 Recommended Retail Price: $9.36 The Hickinbotham-inspired Australian light red wine brand, Cab Mac, is owned by the Victorian winery, Mitchelton. Made by the innovative Proreth technique, it is a result of the purest imaginable form of carbonic maceration, the winemaking process used in the French wine region of Beaujolais. The 1988 wine is certainly one of the best yet – a fresh, flavoursome light red with depth and character. It can be served at room temperature or slightly chilled, and like Beaujolais, will accompany a wide range of foods. It is refreshing to see that Mitchelton have dropped the word `Beaujolais’ from their label. Cab Mac has a headstart on all the other light Australian red wines in their search for an alternate name to `Beaujolais’, and it simply doesn’t need the French pretensions any more. Other companies have already done the same and more will soon follow, regardless of the outcome of the current legal wrangle with the French. Cab Mac is a blend of several premium red grape varieties, harvested at different maturities to give complexity to the wine. The wine is made by placing the hand-harvested bunches into zippered plastic bags in the vineyard, which in turn are positioned within bins mounted on industrial palletes. Once full, the bags are closed, and all air excluded with the addition of a carefully-monitored amount of carbon dioxide gas, which is heavier than air. The air escapes through a one-way puffer valve and the fermentation begins. Without crushing the whole berries begin to metabolise themselves, changing the nature of their chemical constituents to begin the process whereby their sugar is converted to alcohol. This process is directly comparable to hanging a hare or pheasant. After a couple of weeks the grapes are lightly pressed and the fermentation completed in a tank after the addition of yeast. The result is a wine of great flavour without much tannin, with typical jammy and `gamey’ characters. This Cab Mac has a delightful medium cherry colour. The perfumed nose shows spicy, cherry and gamey flavours. Fresh and soft-centred, the palate has a good backbone for this style, length and roundness, finishing with clean acidity and persistence. Food suggestions: Warm or cold salads, veal and pork, cold platters and pasta dishes are just a few of the foodtypes suited to this style of red.
