Notes on the Cousino Macul Antiguas Reserva Cabernet from 2000 and 2001, tasted
side by side with a half bottle of each left to retaste the second day.

These modestly priced wines have an ability to age that goes far beyond what is
normally expected at that price point. I have tasted examples that were 15
years and more old and were very much alive and interesting. The original Macul
terroir is lacking in the more recent wines, but they are getting good fruit
from the new Buin vineyard/


RP gave the 2000 a 90 rating, which raised interest in the wines.


2000 - The darker wine, with a dark fruit nose, the flavours well delineated,
but it has a bit too much oak, and there is an odd element at the finish that
is hard to describe, perhaps a very slight bitterness, that on it's own is
unobjectionable, but when tasted with the 2001, stands out. Second day, the
wine hadn't moved at all.


2001 - also dark fruit, with a little spice in the nose and some vanilla.
Sweeter on entry, and less oak. A fair bit of tannin, but in balance and good
acidity. The fruit is brighter in this wine, but at this point the flavours
seem a bit unfocussed and lack intensity. Second day - the wine no longer seems
as blowsy as it did, and it seems to have developed a larger presence in the
mouth, with a bit more intensity. I prefer this wine to the 2000.