[question] Question submitted by Andrew Fleischer, Australia I have recently seen a 2004 Saltram Mamre Brook Cabernet Shiraz. I thought that they (Saltram) were now making a straight Shiraz and a straight Cabernet, no blend? Any ideas on this wine? [/question] [answer] This struck me as slightly weird as well, since I recently attended a tasting at which the excellent 2004 Mamre Brook reds were featured, plus a conversation along the lines of whether or not the wines would best be blended together. For what it’s worth, my stance is that in good years there should be a single cabernet sauvignon-dominant blend, while in lesser years, the blend should be shiraz-driven. That sort of wine-based logic, is however a few degrees too finnicky for those involved in marketing the wines, and I appreciate the reasons why. So I got back in touch with Nigel Dolan, who not only lives in Mamre Brook House on the Saltram property, but oversees the making of its wines. He responded to me with these words: ‘Yes this does exist. It is something I had actually forgotten about in discussion the other week. This wine (bottled solely in screw cap ‘claret’ style magnums) was a one-off small lot run we did in response to a specific request from the Vintage Cellars group who wanted something unique in 1.5 L as a Christmas promotion. The wine is literally a blend (Cab/Shiraz) of the two 2004 varietal wines you tasted in Melbourne, and there are no plans to bottle again from this or future vintages. The plan remains to continue the Mamre Brook range as varietals only. Despite this, I do still believe stylistically in the potential merits of a blend of the two varieties, and will continue to see the Metala wine as great Australian expression of this option.’ So there you have it, Andrew. Mystery is hopefully solved! [/answer]
