91 pts Stephen Tanzer 's International Wine Cellar - Excellent depth here. Broadens out on the back end, finishing with harmonious tannins.

Tasting Notes

This rich Bordeaux Style blend is deep ruby red in colour with aromas of black olives and an earthly, leathery character complemented by sumptuous spicy notes of cloves and cinnamon. Masculine wine with a complex palate rich in intense cigar box and tobacco leaf flavours infused with truffles. This is a well-structured wine with balanced tannins ending with long lingering aftertaste.
1/11/09
Bilton’s flagship wine, a red Bordeaux blend comprised of 60% Cab Sauv, 30% Merlot and 10% Petit Verdot, respectively. New World concentration, as well as a fuller bodied suppleness and round mouth feel, packed with ripe black fruit and complementary sleek, finer grained tannins. The nose offers up lots of black fruit, cassis and black berry with tamed oak spice and an ever so subtle hint of dry tobacco leaf and olive, giving some lift and nuance to the nose. Fuller bodied with balanced, ripe tannins giving some focusing grip to the wine’s weight and texture, this displays noted fruit concentration with ample oak interplay, but in spite of the 18 months in new and used oak, the wood is balanced with the fruit. Flavors of cassis and black berry come to the fore, with a back drop of beef bouillon showing good intensity as well as length. Enjoy this over the next 6-8 years.

Food Accompaniments

To be enjoyed with roasted beef or venison dishes. A lovely well prepared steak with roasted vegetables.

Awards, Reviews and other Notes

91 pts Stephen Tanzer 's International Wine Cellar
60% cabernet sauvignon, 30% merlot and 10% petit verdot) Bright ruby-red. Spicy aromas and flavors of currant, tobacco, bitter chocolate and cigar box, lifted by a whiff of eucalyptus. Suave, spicy and energetic, with a restrained sweetness to the flavors and nicely integrated oak. Still a bit youthfully tight but there's excellent depth here. Broadens out on the back end, finishing with harmonious tannins. This should enjoy a slow and graceful evolution in bottle.

87 pts Wine Spectator Magazine (JM)
A restrained claret style, with grilled herb, tobacco and dried currant notes supported by a cedar twinge on the finish. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petite Verdot.

Winemaker Notes

Handpicked, crushed and de-stemmed. Pre-soaked for 2 days before yeast-inoculation, with controlled fermentation in stainless steel tanks. After fermentation, free-run and pressed juice are mixed. Assessed, pre-blended and matured for 18-22 months in barrels. Blended again for optimum character. Egg white fining is then followed by soft filtration and bottling on the Estate. Wine is further matured in bottle for 12 – 18 months.

Sir Percy is our Flagship wine and is dedicated to our Great Grandfather Percy Bilton. Each vintage will feature a different hat, a metaphor for the many characteristics of the man Percy Bilton. The 2004 vintage is the Gentleman – Aside from establishing a group of successful companies in London in the 1920’s, Sir Percy also founded the Percy Bilton Charity whose work was to later earn him a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth. Bilton Wines is proud to honour this philanthropic gentleman in a rich Classic blend that is as unique in character as the great man Sir Percy himself.

Chemical Analysis

6 Bottle price

Price

SKU

Varietal

Alcohol: 14.56
pH: 3.37
Total Acid: 6.40 g/l
Residual Sugar: 2.30 g/l
Free/Total Sulfur: 27

$34.99

$39.99

7502

Red Blend