Wolf Blass Black Label Cabernet Shiraz 2018

Wolf Blass Black Label Cabernet Shiraz, Australia, 2018 

Cabernet Shiraz with some batches on skins to dryness, while others completed fermentation in barrel.

A lifted, fragrant nose, with blackberry, cassis and dark plum fruits reinforced with roast coffee, chocolate, fennel seed, and toasted nut complexity derived from barrel fermentation and maturation. Hints tobacco leaf add attractive highlights. Rich, generous and complex, with dark plum and blackcurrant fruit layered with savoury secondary flavours of coffee and cedary oak. Typical of the characteristic Black Label style that overrides regional and varietal influences, yet with the distinctive structural finesse of the vintage. Showing definitive power and elegance through seamless texture, beautifully balanced, lingering fruit and smooth, long, chocolatey tannins.

The first Black Label wine was created back in 1973 and quickly established itself as the flagship. Over time, it has become one of Australia's most awarded wines, winning the Jimmy Watson Trophy an unprecedented four times. The principle behind Black Label never changes, each year it must represent the finest red wine Wolf Blass can make from the best grapes they can source. Lush, ripe berries, a hint of oak and toffee apple and a deeply powerful palate.

"A 56-44 blend, Wolf Blass's 2018 Black Label Cabernet - Shiraz marries fruit from Barossa Valley, Langhorne Creek and McLaren Vale into an inky, powerful example of an Australian classic. Full-bodied and loaded with dark fruit—cassis, blackberries, black cherries, plums—it's rich and velvety in texture, with a long, plush finish. The oak (mostly French, 20% new) sits nicely in the background, letting the fruit shine while lending a savory counterbalance."

94/100 points, Joe Czerwinski, WINE ADVOCATE, August 2021