Ansted & Osicka Balgownie 1970 Block Cabernet Sauvignon 2022

'A collaboration between two talented Heathcote winemakers and one special parcel of old-vine cabernet yields super-impressive results. Complexity-plus meets one luxuriously textured, elegant and beautifully crafted cabernet sauvignon. Mulberry, cassis and loganberry lie warmly in the embrace of dried herbs, spice and aniseed – pristine and in balance all the way – against a gentle background of earth and woodsy oak. Fine, dense tannins run long and complete; a faultless piece of fruit sourcing and winemaking. Bravo!'  Rating: 97 Points. Jeni Port.  Halliday Wine Companion
 
'I tasted this wine earlier this year and was inspired to write a short piece – here. This wine is made by Tobias Ansted (winemaker at the Tellurian vineyard/winery) and Simon Osicka (of Paul Osicka Wines fame). Fair to say that they have done themselves, the grapes, the land and Australian wine history proud here. This wine would make a great pairing with Joshua Cooper’s wine from the same vineyard and year – reviewed by Mike Bennie here. I’m not sure what Balgownie itself made from this vineyard in 2022 though hopefully we will get to taste that too in time.

I love how cabernet this wine is. It has that I’ve got this feel about it, bold and poised at once. It’s a curranty, minty, gravelly wine with a sheer veneer and a masterful roll of tannin. The palate promises a lot but the finish delivers more. There’s a good amount of fruit power here, in an elegant context, though it’s arguably most defined by the cool stare of its finish, which has its eyes fixed on the long distant future.'

'The wine they have created together is a gorgeous example of history and freshness, in a bottle, ready for the glass. It’s one of those ‘if you know, you know’ things, but suffice to say that the Balgownie 1970 Block of Cabernet Sauvignon is a vineyard that is historically important to Victorian, and to Australian, wine. The fact that some of its grapes fell into the hands of two people who get its value, deep down and long term, is just one of those things that makes you want to sit down, and say an agnostic prayer of thanks.' Rating 96 Points.  Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front