Merlot 2012 Awards Gold Medal 2015 Japan Wine Challenge (Japan) James Halliday, Australian Wine Companion 2016 (Australia), August 2015 94 points Lavishly flavoured and smooth to the touch. It's a powerhouse rendition but the style here will be right up the alley of many a merlot devotee. Plum, coffee, tobacco and dried herbs, with a creamy, chocolatey coating of flavour slipped over the top. Tannin runs at fairly high revs; this isn't going anywhere in a hurry, and will develop over many years. Ben Malouf, Daily Telegraph (Australia), 12 May 2015 A stylish merlot to serve with meaty Asian dishes think rainbow beef and pork rib with plum sauce! On the nose you get lovely red berries, spiced plum and a smidgeon of oak. And the flavours are just as good, with dark fruits, subtle earthiness and vanilla delighting the taste buds. Food: Rainbow beef stir fry Value: Outstanding Winestate National (Australia), 1 December 2014 Smoky oak driven nose and rich smooth palate with some fruit sweetness and balancing oak and tannins.
Merlot 2010 Awards Gold medal Silver medal 2015 Sommelier Wine Awards (UK) 2013 International Wine & Spirits Competition (UK) James Halliday, Australian Wine Companion 2014 (Australia), 26 July 2013 93 points Mid garnet colour, and revealing red and black fruits, cedar and mocha oak notes on the bouquet; the palate is medium bodied, dry and well structured, with fine grained tannins and zesty acidity in complete harmony with the complex fruit on offer. Sommelier Wine Awards (UK), May 2015 Gold medal Age and complexity took Katnook to the top with its Merlot. Vibrant fruitiness, French style complexity with an Aussie accent, began Vittorio Gentile of Theo Randall at The InterContinental Hotel, continuing: Full, well balanced with ripe tannins, good acidity and a fresh strawberry finish. Approachable style, with elegant earthy, flinty developed fruit, agreed Robert Mason of Cheese at Leadenhall, while consultant Michael Harrison added: 'A ripe, spicy, herbal palate, with lovely tannins.' 'Conger eel stew in red wine sauce,' recommended Matthieu Longuere MS of Le Cordon Bleu. Rob Geddes, Little Gold Book 2014 (Australia) Christmas cake and pudding with a bush vine tomoto twist and lavish oak aromas. The palate is soft, silky mid weight with plenty of oak density contributing caramel and moccha oack to the plummy merlot fruit. Lisa Perrotti Brown, erobertparker.com (USA), February 2014 88 points Medium garnet purple in colour, the 2010 Katnook Estate Merlot presents an expressive plum and mulberry nose with hints of baking spices and vanilla. Medium bodied, vibrant and showing a medium level of chewy tannins, it finishes long. Drink it now to 2018. 88 points
Merlot 2009 Lisa Perrotti Brown, The Wine Advocate, (USA), April 2012 Deep garnet purple colored, the 2009 Merlot is scented of warm plums and mulberries over notes of bay leaf, underbrush and damp loam. Medium bodied with a moderate amount of fruit concentration, it has a medium level of chewy tannins, crisp acid and a medium to long finish. Drinking now, it should keep to 2016 David Ellis, Canberra Weekly (Australia), 16 February 2012 Wayne Stehbens has built an enviable reputation as Senior Winemaker at Coonawarra s Katnook Estate for creating wonderfully fuller bodied Merlots that always stand out from the crowd. And his newly released 2009 is no different: crafted from full flavoured fruit from a low yielding vintage, this wine's got beautifully up front plum and red currant flavours, a nice sweetness to it together with a touch of spice and fine tannins. "We had average winter rainfall that helped budburst in Spring," Wayne recalls of the 2009 vintage. "But January was a testing time with a mini heatwave, slightly below average temperatures for the rest of the vintage that was the latest since 2004 and yet resultant fruit of outstanding flavour." At $40 enjoy this one with rare rib eye fillet and field mushrooms Kerry Skinner, Illawarra Mercury (Australia), 15 February 2012 Katnook winemaker Wayne Stehbens is a merlot nut and has done much to promote the sometimes maligned variety. This new release will do the merlot cause no harm at all. From the heart of the famed Coonawarra region it's full bodied and matured in new and used French oak. Layers of plum and berry fruit, a core of spice, poise and balance and loads of cellaring potential. Drink with a lamb casserole. Jeff Collerson, Daily Telegraph Sydney (Australia), 31 December 2011 Katnook's Coonawarra winemaker Wayne Stehbens is a dab hand with Merlot and has excelled here. This has an alluring nose of wild olive and plums with some herbal, savoury characters emerging on the sweet, fleshy palate. Enjoy with roast veal. Patrick Haddock, Wining Pom (Australia), 1December 2011 Australian Merlot is often seen as mediocre rather than marvellous and this one thankfully fits into the latter category. It smells of black cherries and plums dipped in milk chocolate, some creamy vanilla oak as well as a leathery, earthy complexity. Soft and varietal on the palate with more plum and mulberry and grainy tannins pushing through the finish. There s notes of bitter chocolate and a little sour cherry but it s a good effort, Lindsay Saunders, Weekend Gold Coast Bulletin (Australia), 13 November 2011 This is one of three 2009 vintage reds from the Coonawarra based winery released recently. It's a beaut. Some merlots leave us wanting more because they're too soft and thin but this is more full bodied and all the better for it. Suggest teaming it with a rib eye fillet.
Merlot 2008 Awards Silver medal 2011 International Wine & Spirits Competition (UK) James Halliday, Australian Wine Companion 2012 (Australia) Very developed colour; the wine is at the far extreme of the savoury/black olive/cedar spectrum, with fine but persistent tannins running through the length of the palate; for Bordeaux lovers. Rating 92. Cellar until 2014. Mike Bennie, WBM National (Australia), 1 July 2012 The warm 2008 vintage lends some heft to this Merlot yes the hallmarks of dark fruit and plush texture are retained but there's a sweeter breadth in the wine and a compelling intensity too. Brooding deep, it growls from the glass. Nick Stock, The Age / SMH Good Wine Guide 2011 (Australia) 93 points The latest edition of this Coonawarra merlot is a stunner, with plenty of cedary oak and classic stoic Katnook style: there s mulberry, plum and cassis fruit here. The palate s juicy and fleshy, underpinned with fine tannin structure. Balanced neatly through the finish. Late sweep of toasty oak. 93 points Jeremy Oliver, The Australian Wine Annual 2011 (Australia) Fragrant, floral aromas of dark cherries, plums, blackberries and fresh cedar/vanilla oak are delightfully perfumed. Long, smooth and juicy, its spotlessly fresh cherry/berry fruit knits tightly with lightly chocolatey oak and fine, silk tannins. Ross Noble, The Courier (Australia), 10 August 2011 Brilliant colour, generous ripe fruit flavors and fine tannins. Maturation for 21 months before release provides a chocolatey oak nuance. Good drinking now, it will further develop with a few years in the cellar. Matt Skinner, Australian Good Food (Australia), August 2011 My favourite Merlots include the much loved Katnook Estate Merlot 2008. Andrew Caillard MW, Langton's website (Australia), August 2011 90 points Medium deep colour. Fragrant plum/ redcurrant/ herb aromas with vanilla/ cedar oak notes. Well concentrated buoyant wine with plum/ redcurrant/ herb flavours with touch of leafy/ sous bois notes, good mid palate richness, and fine slinky tannins. Finishes long and sweet. Should build up more richness and complexity with age. 90 points. Cellar from now 2018.
Winestate Magazine (Australia), January / February 2011 4 stars Selected as one of Winestate's Best Wines of 2010. Winestate Magazine (Australia), November / December 2010 Classy wine with savoury/earthy characters dominating the nose and an oaky palate with nice persistence of some excellent ripe fruit flavours in the background. Tony Love, The Adelaide Advertiser (Australia), November 2010 94 points One of Coonawarra's leaders in varietal merlot, a variety often brought into action with the region's cabernet, but here firing on all its own cylinders with vibrant juicy plum aromas, fine oak that dances well around the fruit without treading on its toes and a generous mouth full of flavour. Terrific wine. 94 Points. Winsor Dobbin, Winsor's Choice website (Australia), 16 August 2010 I'm not a huge fan of Australian merlots generally but I really enjoyed this one from winemaker Wayne Stehbens, who has the midas touch with this fickle grape. Unlike many of its siblings this has plenty of character with bold black and red berry flavours in the front row, balanced oak in the second row and soft tannin structure. I really enjoyed the different layers of flavour in the mouth and the assertiveness from a variety that's so often soft and wimpy. Top marks for food friendliness, too. Kerry Skinner, Illawarra Mercury (Australia), 5 August 2010 Katnook winemaker Wayne Stehbens is a big merlot fan, in fact he loves the stuff and has done much to promote the oftmaligned variety. This new release, matured in new and old French oak, is smooth and seductive with berry and plum fruit flavours, a touch of spice, chocolate characters and silky tannins. Rick Allen, Parramatta Advertiser (Australia), 28 July 2010 If this Coonawarra winery's cabernet wasn't so highly regarded, then this wine would get a lot more accolades than it does. It's a quality merlot all right. I had this with a roast leg of lamb the other night and it was a delight. It has layered blackberry and dark cherry flavours, loads of mid palate oomph, fine ripe tannins and some spice to top it all off. My only regret was that I didn't have another bottle.
Merlot 2006 Nick Stock, The Age / SMH Good Wine Guide 2011(Australia), 2011 This is hemmed in with assertive tarry oak on the nose, a trait seen right through Katnook s upper tiered reds but if you re willing to decant and breathe, it serves up some cool blue fruits, cassis and mulberry, along with gentle fresh garden herbs. The palate has structure in spades: the oak frames it up nicely, laying ripe plum and dark cherry flavour in a neat, straight line through the finish. James Halliday, Australian Wine Compendium 2010 (Australia) 89 points Strongly savoury, but equally strongly varietal; earth and black olive frame the blackcurrant and red current fruit; good length. Screwcap,13.5 percent alc. Rating 89. To 2015. Matthew Sullivan, lawandstyle.ca (USA), 3 June 2010 Although Katnook makes an excellent Cab Sauv, I was particularly struck by its Merlot, which is quite frankly a very special wine. Mocha, sweaty leather and graphite come together in this finely balanced and juicy wine. The weather of 2006 was even more promising than the 1994 vintage, so this wine is assured great longevity I ll be drinking mine circa 2020. As it ages, it will acquire a fleshy texture, a hint of buckwheat honey and even more elegance. Superb. 92/100 Nick Stock, Wine Business Monthly (Australia), April 2010 This shows the trademark emphasis of Katnook yet there s a decent push of fruit peeking through: plums, spice and berries here. Ralph Kyte Powell, The Age Epicure (Australia), 22 July 2009 4 stars Merlot has occupied a no man's land: consumers don't know what to expect and many winemakers are lost too. This Coonawarra version is a good introduction: plummy fruit, a touch of fruitcake, cedary oak, balanced mouth watering flavour, good intensity and a tangy cut of acidity. It finishes long with hints of violet and cedar. 4 stars. Jeff Collerson, Daily Telegraph: Simply Food (Australia), 19 May 2009 Expensive for this variety but Katnook has had more experience with this grape than most producers and virtually every vintage releases one of the top half dozen merlots in Australia. This has the savoury, leathery nose typical of top end Coonawarra merlot. The medium weighted palate is beautifully textured with layers of supple red fruit, finishing with smooth tannins. Food and Wine, Canberra Times (Australia), 6 May 2009 You know this is going to be a serious merlot by the maker, region and price. It is. Instantly, there are aromas of inky black berries in the glass. The first sip reveals more on the palate, which is plump in the mouth and layered with plums and fruitcake. Subtle oak plays a background role in one of the best merlots I've had in recent tastings.
Kerry Skinner, Illawarra Mercury (Australia), 15 April 2009 When it comes to merlot, winemaker Wayne Stehbens is a master. He has a great affinity with the variety and it shows in this superb offering. Matured in quality French oak for 26 months, it's supple and smooth in the mouth with layers of sweet plum and berry fruit, a touch of spice, great oak and silky tannins. Drink it with roast duck. Gary Walsh, Winefront Monthly (Australia), 3 April 2009 93 points A mix of berries and plum, tobacco and cedar and attractive unobtrusive nutty oak. Medium bodied, fresh and lively with excellent balance throughout nothing hot, jangling or jarring here. Sweet fruit and savoury flavours co exist in harmony and the length is excellent. Lovely wine made for drinking. Rated : 93 Points Tasted : Mar09 Alcohol : 13.5 percent Price : $40 Closure : Screwcap Australian and NZ Wine Industry Journal (Australia), 1 April 2009 Developed aromas of leather, earth, olive nuances and lifted plum. Good use of toasted oak providing flavour that "kept coming", with attractive fruit flavours in a clean, older style of wine.
Merlot 2005 Rob Geddes MW, Australian Wine Vintages, 27th Edition 2010 (Australia) 3 stars / 88 points Stewed cherry and earthy fruits with leafy edges in a medium weight frame, surrounded by espresso oak. 3 stars captures your attention with quality and price. 88 points Maichel Phaneuf, Le Guide de Vin, 30 March 2010 On the Coonawarra plain, winemaker Wayne Stehbens enjoys an excellent reputation. This very good Coonawarra Merlot 2005 deserves a mention for its overall balance. Not particularly giving or original, true, but its soft, fruity style and its sweet, integrated tannins have a certain charm. (translated). James Halliday, Australian Wine Companion 2009 (Australia) Medium bodied but has complex aromas, flavours and texture; redcurrant, plum, cedar and spice are all surrounded by gentle, soft tannins running through to the finish. Rating 92, cellar to 2015. Tony Love, Adelaide Advertiser (Australia), 11 June 2008 90 points. Without the overt fragrance of the Eden Valley region, this south easterner is more sweet spiced oak and just ripe fruit interplay, with plenty of mouth action from its tannin profile; a few years wait may allow the fruit to lift, which has occured in older vintages like the '87 and '97, the latter glorious at the moment. Max Crus, Daily Examiner (Australia), 24 May 2008 8.7 out of 10 This is what merlot should taste like, or at least what a lot of other merlots wished they tasted like? 8.7/10. Mark Tandan, winecurrent.com, 25 March 2008 4 stars Whereas Merlot is more often seen as a blender in Australia, this effort, from a very consistent producer, is impressive. Typical aromas of red and dark berries intermingle with floral and toasted oak notes. It's soft in the mouth, with a nice seam of acidity for balance, and finishes long and smooth. It's approachable enough to enjoy alone, or with milder cheeses. 4 stars. Jeni Port, Epicure, The Age (Australia), 29 January 2008 There's a strong fruitiness here that follows the traditional Australian line with a pretty floral, violet lift.
James Halliday, The Weekend Australian (Australia), 19 January 2008 The 2005 ($40, ) is also impressive: medium bodied with complex aromas of oak and fruit; the texture is good, the flavours rangingthrough redcurrant, plum, cedar and spice, surrounded by gentle tannins on the finish. A wholly legitimate and unambiguous expression of the grape variety. Darryl Thomas, Sunday Territorian, 2 December 2007 Aromas of sweet red fruit and chocolate follow on to the palate, with a core of sweet red berry flavour balanced by wood spice. Food: Braised lamb shanks. MX, 7 December 2007 By all accounts, the 2005 Coonawarra region season was just about ideal, but had a below average yield. That's a shame because there won't be as many opportunities to sample this smooth, spicy merlot. Oak flavours combined with ripe plums and forest floor fruits. Christopher Hayes, Eat and Drink, November 2007 The aromas of black olives, mulberry, leather and dark earth are attractive and complex, leading to a palate that is rich and textured with some evident oak impact and spice. Perhaps a little flat on mid palate at the moment but showing length and persistence. Tasted with the 2000, a lovely 1997 and the 1987 (the second vintage made) all of which had held up beautifully it was the best wine. This promises great things for cellaring this wine. Food Match: Steak frites WBM100 93 points Great Merlots don't come around often enough in Australia, so stock up on this one. It's got more layers of creamy black fruits and exotic spice than ever, culminating in a fresh, fruity finish, supported by firm, fine tannins. 93 points. Winestate (Australia), 1 December 2007 4 stars Superb, complex and absolutely ready;' enthused one judge. Oaky, earthy bouquet and solid fruit/oak palate with a firm tannic finish. $40. 4 stars