2002 Sevenhill St Ignatius Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec.

I love the Clare Valley. For me it is always an under the radar region: It can produce good to great Riesling, Shiraz and Cabernet and is home to some lovely cellar doors (not to mention the home of Wendouree – enough said), yet seems to not receive the attention of other regions (at least from my view from Sydney).


My local wine shop at Randwick is stocking some wines from Sevenhill, the historic winery in the Clare Valley still being run by the Jesuits. The St Ignatius had some bottle age so I decided to give it a go.

It is a deep and dark crimson with brick tinted edges. On the nose it is all Christmas cake, dark berries, liquorice and spice, with suggestions of ripe Jammy fruit and coconut ice. A relatively smooth entry leads to a flurry of dark chocolate, cloves and menthol on the middle palate. The finish is quite long, with earthy, drying tannin on the finish that might be off putting for some, though I warmed to it.

As the wine saw more air the tannins softened, though there was still oodles of chocolate, fruit and nicely integrated oak. For the price it was a good value wine, and one I would recommend for those curious about Clare Valley Cabernet blends. Caesar’s interest was raised by the wine, and lept into the photo (presumably checking if the Jesuits were up to anything other than making wine), as is the want of a Caesar.