Thousand Candles Gathering Field Cabernet Blend 2019 750ml

Thousand Candles is an interesting project. They burst on to the market about a decade ago with what was then a groundbreaking blend made by the hottest winemaker in town at the time, Bill Downie. It was Pinot Noir, Shiraz & Sauvignon Blanc, maybe a bit of Cabernet, with an eye-watering $100+ price ticket. The notion of such grapes at the time was crazy, these days you wouldn't blink at such a blend in say, a pet nat or chilled red concocted by a contemporary winemaker. But Thousand Candles wasn't some party juice made for glugging at parks, it was serious. Dead serious. It was polarising, controversial and in some circles a hit - but in most circles, it tanked. They then just vanished for a few years. Selling off the fruit they grew, re-jigging the plans.  Now with a new distributor and a polished range, here we are. The ALL NEW Thousand Candles range.This wine is a Bordeaux styled blend, predominantly Merlot with Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc & Malbec. It pours a really bright, fresh colour, semi translucent. On the nose there's mulberry, cassis, a little tanbark and smoke. The palate is medium bodied and very polished. Sweet berry fruit, spices, and a gentle smokiness wrapped up in a velvet smooth, fine tannin structure. It's a really lovely, pretty and polite modern Australian rendition of an old world classic. Grouse.