Mitchell's is one of the best-kept secrets in Australian wine. They’ve been making great Clare reds and whites since the late seventies. The wines are dry-grown, hand-picked, hand-made, and estate-bottled. The vineyards enjoy careful soil management combined with old-style farm practices. This 2005 is the current release, a medium-bodied wine which proves that 13.5% alcohol is perfectly adequate for a serious red. This is classic cool climate Cabernet with mint on the nose and a slight doughnut palate, dark berries and subdued oak balanced by long fine acid and tannins. Still pretty young, showing only small signs of age. Elegant yet immensely satisfying, and so well balanced that it will live for many years.