2001 Peter Barlow Cabernet Sauvignon
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Tasting notes
Very bright aromas of currant, black cherry and tobacco. Highly concentrated, juicy and impressively precise; very young but already displaying lovely inner-mouth aromatic character and incipient complexity. Very primary, penetrating cassis and black cherry flavors. The firm tannins reach the front teeth. An impeccably made, powerfully structured wine that shows terrific balance from the outset but should develop in bottle for a decade or more.
Critic scores
Average Score
Neal Martin
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
More reviews and scores
The 2001 was matured entirely in new French oak for 24 months, common practice at that time, whereas recent vintages are matured in around 60% new wood. At 23-years of age, it offers mainly red fruit tinged with peppermint, a trait that differentiated it from the Saint-Julien. With touches of loam and crushed violet, it becomes pretty pungent with time, that floral element accentuated by aeration. The palate is sweet but not cloying, a medicinal Cabernet with plenty of flesh towards the finish with just a hint of dryness. It is not the most complex Peter Barlow I have encountered, but I was impressed by this showing, proving that South Africa’s best wines can age in bottle as well as anyone’s.
(100% cabernet sauvignon, from 14-year-old virus-free vines) Bright, dark ruby. Aromas of cassis, blackberry, minerals, bitter chocolate, tobacco leaf and spicy oak. Tightly wound, very intense and penetrating, with terrific structure and vinosity. Spicy and sexy, with lovely sweet berry and torrefaction flavors. Finishes very long and firmly tannic but not dry. Loads of potential here.