Magill Cellars Cabernet Savignon 2000

Not to be confused with Penfolds Magill Estate, Magill Cellars appears to be marketed mainly for through the NZ Wine Society and Australian equivalents. Having said that, the wine is of good quality and would not be out of place on the shelves of reputable wine merchants.

The back label gave this wine a cellaring potential of 5-6 years and that seemed about right on opening this bottle. Good fruit with no obvious oak (matured in both French and American), it had a mellowness without the "okker" in your face characters. To my taste there seemed an almost Grenache flavour coming through and it would not surprise me if some other grape variety may have been blended in under the percentage required to be listed on the label.

If the opportunity to purchase current vintage came up, I'd be happy to replenish the cellar with a bottle or two.