Whitsend Estate 2002 Merlot Oct 04

Who has ever heard of Whitsend? The only reason I have ever paid attention to the occasional tasting notes of wines (seen mainly on US wine boards) from this obscure winery was because one of the six properties in my street is called Witsend so when I saw the winery was located in the Yarra Bloody Valley, I could not resist making an appointment to try the wines. We were met by a layback Ross Baldwin in his small but adequate tasting room adjacent to his house. Although the winery was established in 1998 and only produces 500 cases a year, they are not new to the game as their vineyards are well established and they only use 5% of their grapes for their own label, the rest are sold off to one of the other local larger producers.

This wine sells for $18 a bottle by the case from the winery. The bouquet showed smoky oak, cherry, chocolate and tar. Smooth, unobtrusive tannins, lively acid and obvious fruit combine to form a medium-weight wine with a firm but supple consistency, solid structure and agreeable complexity. Cherry, chocolate, spice, white pepper and smoky oak on the finish have the sweetness countered by the acid. A good food wine with a good finish that is easy drinking - a real crowd pleaser, it is rated as Recommended with **** for value at the case price.