Chapel Hill The Parson Adelaide Cabernet Sauvignon 2018

Chapel Hill’s 2018 The Parson Adelaide Cabernet Sauvignon is the perfect introduction to Chapel Hill’s pure, succulent wines. For starters, the deeply colored 2018 Chapel Hill The Parson Cabernet Sauvignon offers an impressive array of savory Cabernet aromas, beginning with blackberry, mulberry, and cured tobacco along with hints of wild herb. Medium-bodied but rich in flavor, Chapel Hill’s 2018 The Parson Cabernet Sauvignon possesses a smooth, pleasing mid-palate that carries the wine’s pure berry fruit flavors and delightful aromatics on a textured bed of ripe tannins. The result is a balanced, delightful Cabernet Sauvignon that is neither harshly tannic nor insipidly jammy, which allows it to drink beautifully soon after it is poured. For optimal enjoyment, afford the 2018 Chapel Hill The Parson Adelaide Cabernet Sauvignon at least 15 minutes of aeration before serving at cool room temperature (about 60° F).

Although the 2018 Chapel Hill The Parson Adelaide Cabernet Sauvignon needs little to shine, it is also extremely food friendly thanks to its smooth, rich flavors and tame tannins. Consequently, it provides an ideal companion to beef, lamb, pasta, and many vegetarian specialties. Sirloin steak served with grilled vegetables, garlic mashed potatoes or a creamy risotto is a top choice. Equally satisfying are grilled loin lamb chops rubbed with garlic and basted with olive oil, rosemary and thyme. Pasta Bolognese gets two thumbs up as well. For an explosive wine and food combination, consider serving a juicy buffalo burger with roasted poblano pepper, pickled red onion, pepper jack cheese and jalapeño aioli with Chapel Hill’s comely 2018 The Parson Cabernet Sauvignon. A spicy bean burger with caramelized onions makes another excellent pairing. And should a glass of this delicious Cabernet remain after dinner, we suggest you finish it with your favorite cow’s milk cheese. Enjoy!

Two decades ago we discovered the artfully crafted wines of Chapel Hill winery and featured several of Chapel Hill’s exceptional McLaren Vale wines. But after a stint in which Pam Dunsford, the first woman graduate of Australia’s prestigious school of oenology at Roseworthy, brought Chapel Hill to international prominence with Gold Medals at the prestigious London International Wine and Spirit Competition and the International Wine Challenge in London, Chapel Hill’s wines seemed to all but vanish from the American market. Happily, under the current leadership of Chief Winemaker and McLaren Vale native Michael Fragos, Chapel Hill wines are once again available and are even more delightful and engaging than ever.

Chapel Hill draws its name from the historic stone chapel built on the property that dates to 1865, which has served as a local church, a parish school, and now the winery’s cellar door and art gallery that features the work of talented local contemporary and indigenous artists.

Under Michael Fragos (IW&SC 2007 International Winemaker of the Year), Winemaker Bryn Richards and Viticulturist Rachel Steer, Chapel Hill has solidified its position as one of South Australia’s top wineries. Chapel Hill owns and operates 44 hectares (about 109 acres) of vineyards in South Australia’s famed McLaren Vale appellation and purchases fruit from a select group of McLaren Vale and Adelaide Hills growers. Shiraz reigns as king at Chapel Hill as it does throughout McLaren Vale, but Grenache, Mourvèdre, Sangiovese, and especially Cabernet Sauvignon also pay homage to the extraordinary success of this winery. Although it is produced in much less quantity than the estate’s Shiraz, Chapel Hill’s 2018 The Parson Adelaide Cabernet Sauvignon (this month’s feature) is as exciting and crowd pleasing as Chapel’s Hill’s renowned Shiraz. With the addition of fruit from the nearby, cooler Adelaide Hills, Chapel Hill also fashions a number of outstanding white wines, which further account for Chapel Hill’s preeminence among South Australia’s wine producers.