In his poem, ‘Parfum Exotique’, Baudelaire describes “the scent of green tamarinds” on an autumn breeze and I’ve always thought it sounded wonderfully exotic and hoped that I would one day know it for myself. I haven’t yet, but when I first inhaled the aroma on this extraordinary Merlot, I imagined it might be something similar. It’s utterly beguiling, unlike any Merlot I have ever known, given extra aromatic lift by the use of whole bunch fermentation, and is billowing with hibiscus, dried cherries, fraises des bois and green tamarind (maybe). The palate is sensational too with both treble and bass and layers of plummy fruit infused with sweet spices from the souk. One of the world’s great expressions of Merlot. An Australian Petrus. 13% alc. Drink now-2050.

Organically farmed

Press review:

The Australian Wine Companion: “Of course this is made with 100% whole bunches in the ferment. It's Timo Mayer's style. It works, as there's a juiciness matched to more savoury flavours. It's surprisingly not stalky or sappy from the whole bunches, so there's obviously good ripeness here. I could drink a lot of this. Yup. Merlot. But not as you know it.” 95 points