2003 Huntington Estate Abercorn Grower’s Revenge wine

In February 2013 we made a wine tour in Mudgee. One winery, Huntington Estate, stood out in my memory as a place where I liked all wines I tasted. Later, in August, I received a newsletter from them where they had a special deal on their aged wines which were sold as cleanskins. I always ignored such advertisements that offered mixed cases of wines selected by persons unknown for reasons unknown, but this time was different – it was from Huntington. In fact, I didn’t plan on buying more wine for quite a while as I was still stocked up after Mudgee trip and Sydney Good Food and Wine Show, but they offered 8 to 11 years old wines for 10-15 dollars a bottle, and again, it was from Huntington. Still, how would I justify buying another case? Clink! Once my thoughts turned in the direction of finding reasons (or, shall I say, excuses), it was a done deal. My wife was just happy that I finally decided what gift I wanted for Father’s Day…

Although the wines were called cleanskins, each bottle had a simple white label with a wine name. There were 7 different labels in a case. I didn’t expect them to sell outstanding aged wines for that price, but all wines were basically good and I wouldn’t mind buying a bottle of each sort again. However, there was one bottle which was simply excellent – 2003 Huntington Estate Abercorn Grower’s Revenge. It was an unusual blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Shiraz. The wine was warm and velvety on the palate and had that pleasant bitterness of overripe black cherry which I like so much. The taste became even better after I opened the bottle and left it under a vacuum seal for a week. I’d like to buy a case of that wine, but it’s not on sale anymore.