2017 Yarra Yering Dry Red No. 1

A blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot, 8% Malbec and 4% Petit Verdot with the majority of the fruit coming from the No. 1 block planted in 1969. Maturation took place in French oak barrels, 40% of which were new, for a period of 15 months.
Midnight black dark red core with a deep dark red black tinged hue. Pronounced red to black currant and ripe mulberry scents meld into vanillin cedar, dried herb, tobacco and spice notes. Medium bodied the palate is amply fruited with ripe red to black currant and mulberry fruits which marry into complexing vanillin cedar, tobacco, dried herb, earth and spice characters. Excellent length and finesse with perfectly integrated, polished tannins. The very long and refined aftertaste is first class.
Drink over the next 10-15 years.
Alc. 13.5%

Other Reviews…..
A classic blend of 70% cabernet sauvignon, 18% merlot, 8% malbec and 4% petit verdot. Hand-picked and sorted, crushed and destemmed, open-fermented, on skins for up to a month, matured for 12 months in French oak (35% new). This is the serious side of '17. The aromas and flavours are still fresh and vibrant, but the palate, in particular, brooks no argument: this is a wine for protracted cellaring to allow the whipcord-tight structure to relax its grip. Drink by 2047.
98 points
James Halliday – Australian Wine Companion

I just spent a brunch-to-lunch with MW Andrew Caillard, which is always amazing, full of insight, inspiring and humbling, and I found notes of his on the Langton’s Classification regarding this wine that said ‘Carrodus likens seasoning of wine in oak like salt in porridge, “If it is pronounced it makes it taste terrible”‘, which is interesting, because tasting through the 2017 Yarra Yering wines there is a distinct overlay of overt oak in all the wines, almost distracting, not quite, but there, malty, distinct, a character in its own right … Take that as you will. Anyway, this No. 1 as always is the cabernet sauvignon dominant blend of ‘Bordeaux varieties’.
The approach is stunning. A full orchestra of aromas, blue fruits, cassis, floral things, herbal spice, bayleaf, malt, liquorice. Fantastic. The palate is fresh, invigorating, blue fruits, faint plum, black olive, lithe tannins and a light malt-oak sheath seasoning things. It rides long, fine, light-on, but tense, with exceptional length and a pool of mouth-watering, gently sweet-sour fruit lingering long. It’s an understated, superb, detailed wine of exceptional feel and high drinkability. Drink 2019-2040.
96+ points
Mike Bennie – The Wine Front