Sixty Second Swirl by Brent Lello, Yass Valley Times Wine Columnist
Dennis and Julian at Dog Trap Vineyard produce wines that are amongst the best value and gracefully ageing wines of the Yass Valley region. With a focus on classic Cabernet and satisfying Shiraz, year in and year out they produce wines of elegance and poise, demonstrating a tangible sense of our region’s classic cool climate qualities. A great example is the subject of this week’s “swirl” – the Dog Trap Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2016.
This Cabernet is a deep, dark red colour in the glass with garnet flashes at the edge. A swirl invites aromas of blackcurrant, blood plum and boysenberry with a lick of star anise and a shake of white pepper. The palate is medium weight with lively and fresh dark berry fruit flavours including blackcurrant and deeply dark cherry. The flavours are carried through to a lingering finish with well-weighted acidity and soft, drying tannins. For over six years old, this is cracking stuff.
We enjoyed our bottle with chargrilled eye fillet steak sandwich with caramelised onions, grilled mushrooms and roasted red capsicums – Delish! It would equally well with any premium red meat cut, seared or slow braised.
I sourced my bottle from Dennis while visiting his stall at the Murrumbateman Field Days, but you can often find Dennis down at one of the region’s local village markets. Their wines can also be found in some of the region’s local boutique gourmet outlets.
