Tasting Notes - Fighting Gully Road Cab Merlot 2002

From a wine retailer's point of view you'd go nowhere near this wine at face value. $37 cabernet from 5yr old vines; typical over-priced Beechworth wine right?. Problem is that the region keeps kicking up great wines that show genuine terroir (a rarity in Oz) and this wine is another example. Super balance and construct in the early and mid palate with soft cassis and plum. Elegant in terms of weight but very varietal and smooth. Firming tannins to finish that do get a tad rough but I'm mostly willing to overlook. Drinking very well as a 6 year old (noting that the vines were planted in 1997) but unlikely to get much better.