Financial Times

Flying to Sydney for a blind tasting, JANCIS ROBINSON MW assesses Cabernets from Coonawarra and Margaret River in Australia and Hawkes Bay in New Zealand: 'The only two wines which seemed to me to have dangerously low levels of acidity came from New Zealand. And I would reproach quite a number of the Australian examples for having obtrusive levels of acidity which were, furthermore, not integrated into the wine very much an add-on.' She says that the Coonawarra Cabs tended to 'jump out of the glass', while other wines displayed 'unappetisingly overripe notes and a lack of freshness'. Generally, however, she was pleased by the overall quality, although she noted the tendency of Australian winemakers to opt for 'rasping' tannins in favour of 'gentler, riper' ones.