Balnaves Cabernet Sauvignon 2004

"Searingly intense, long and seamless, this superbly structured and balanced cabernet marries piercing berry, cherry and plum-like fruit with cedar/chocolate oak and a firm, drying spine of chalky tannin. Scented with slightly minty nuances of violets and dried herbs, it's ripe, lavish and savoury, without a hint of over-ripeness. A great bargain and a genuine standby in case you can't get The Tally from the same vintage. Drink 2016-2024."  Jeremy Oliver - 95 points

"Tasted April 2007 I tasted the 2004 Tally (Flagship) by Balnaves at Wine Australia last year and was blown away, but this wine is no poor cousin. It's tight and dry but packed with rich blackcurrant flavour and framed by perfectly sculptured tannins. Reeks of class, and with enough interest to keep you coming back for another sniff and swirl. The 2004 vintage offerings from Balnaves are right on the money. Buy up. Drink: 2010-2016."  Grant Dodd, The Wining Pro – 94+ points

"Typical colour of the Balnaves '04 reds; very concentrated, dense, full-bodied blackcurrant/blackberry fruit, with long, lingering tannins; high quality oak in restrained support. Drink Now-2024."  James Halliday, Halliday Wine Companion - 94 points

"Cabernet sauvignon continued its long, John Wayne-like canter back into town, sometimes riding alone, sometimes with a few pals. The standout was the 2004 Balnaves The Tally Cabernet Sauvignon ($85). There should be a few bottles around. If you miss out, they're about to release the standard bottling 2004 Balnaves Cabernet Sauvignon ($33), available early in 2007. It is also a terrific rendition."  Nick Stock, The Adelaide Review

"I don't think I have tucked into a Balnaves cabernet since the excellent 99 vintage but this is certainly right up there. I sometimes think we don't quite realise how good we have it when you can plonk down thirty dollars (or less) and come away with a wine of this quality. If you want value, terroir and cellarability then look no further.

Aromas of cassis, blackberry, dark chocolate, tobacco, violet, mint and cedar oak. On the palate full bodied with lush cassis, blackberry, dark mint chocolate and some savoury tobacco characters. Plenty of very firm but fine grained grippy tannin. Clean fresh acidity to balance. Long dry savoury black olive finish. Big points. Big wine. Drink: 2009 – 2020."  Gary Walsh, Winorama - 94 points

"Picture of composure. Beautiful cabernet. Classic, dry, mouthfilling structure, essency blackcurrant fruit, integrated oak and a resounding finish. This will age long term – and really needs to be cellared. A real cabernet for real cabernet lovers. Drink: 2013-2020."  Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front - 93 points

Balnaves of Coonawarra is a small family-owned winery, in the heart of the Coonawarra Wine Region. Doug Balnaves established the vineyard in 1975 and 2.5 ha of Cabernet Sauvignon and 2.5 ha of Shiraz were planted on the rich terra rossa soils. Since those first plantings the Balnaves vineyards have grown steadily and today Balnaves have over 70ha of high-quality estate vineyards.

In 1990 siblings Kirsty and Pete Balnaves joined the family company and the first Balnaves wines were produced on a contract basis at a neighbouring winery. These days, Doug is General Manager, while Kirsty is the Business Manager and Peter runs the vineyard. In 1995 the family was joined by winemaker Pete Bissell and in 1996 their state-of-the-art 1000 tonne winery, designed and supervised by Pete, was completed.  

In 1998 the first vintage of their flagship wine, the Balnaves The Tally Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon was produced. The 2004 Tally won Jeremy Oliver's Wine of the Year in 2007. In 2008 the winery was named James Halliday's Winery of the Year and they have been awarded five stars by Halliday for 17 consecutive years. 

Balnaves' success has in no small part been due to Pete Bissell, who celebrated 25 years as senior winemaker in 2020. Pete received numerous accolades over that time, including winning the Qantas/Gourmet Traveller Winemaker of the Year in 2005. Pete retired in July 2020 and assistant Winemaker Jacinta Jenkins took over as Senior Winemaker. 

We want you to enjoy your wines as soon as possible and endeavour to dispatch orders as quickly as we can. It may take us a little longer during sales or peak trading periods, so kindly keep that in mind if you are purchasing for a special occasion.

Shipping Cost

Delivery is free on any order of 12 or more bottles to Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Gold Coast, Newcastle, Sunshine Coast, Wollongong and rural Victoria.

On orders of 12 or more bottles to all other areas, we cover a percentage of the shipping costs. Shipping is calculated at checkout.

For orders of less than 12 bottles Australia wide, shipping is calculated at checkout.

Insurance

All orders are fully insured.

Standard Delivery

We use Australia Post and a Specialist Wine Courier (Anonymous Wine Freight) for domestic deliveries. Your location will determine which of these delivery services will be available.

Couriers will not telephone ahead to notify you of time of delivery and delivery on specific days can not be guaranteed.

While a large number of destinations are serviced within 48 hours or less, please allow up to 14 days for delivery within Australia.

Specialist Wine Delivery Service

We offer a specialist temperature-controlled wine delivery service called Anonymous Wine Freight to deliver your wine if you live close to the CBD in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney or Perth, or live in Byron Bay, Gold Coast, Mornington Peninsula or Geelong. If Anonymous Wine Freight services your postcode, the option to use them will appear on checkout. Here is a link to the list of postcodes they service. 

They are highly recommended as they ship in refrigerated transport to climate-controlled warehouses in each metro area before they make their way to your delivery address in air-conditioned vehicles for the last kilometers. In addition, they will even call you by phone at the time of delivery if they encounter any problems.

Please find their delivery schedule below.

Pick-up

If you live in Melbourne, you can pick up your order from our office in Camberwell by prior arrangement. Please select the 'Pick Up' delivery option during checkout and we will contact you to arrange a suitable time for pick-up once the order has been packed.

What if I won’t be home?

If you may not be home at the time of delivery and would like the wine left in a safe place, please give Authority to Leave (ATL) and any delivery instructions in the 'DELIVERY INSTRUCTIONS & ATL' at the bottom of the shopping cart, located just above the CHECKOUT button. 

If you have requested delivery with Australia Post and have not given Authority to Leave, a signature will be required on delivery. If you miss the postman, the order will be taken to your local Post Office for collection.

If you have requested delivery with our specialist wine courier (Anonymous Wine Freight), the driver will phone you for instructions if you are not at home at the time of delivery. If he can't contact you, the order will be taken to their local depot and can be re-delivered subject to a $20.00 fee.

Summer Heat Policy

If during hot weather you would like us to delay dispatch of your order to avoid potential heat damage to your wine please let us know. We are more than happy to store your order in our climate controlled warehouse until the weather is cooler. Please add the request in the 'DELIVERY INSTRUCTIONS & ATL' at the bottom of the shopping cart, located just above the CHECKOUT button.

Alternatively, we may email you and request to delay dispatch of your order until the weather is cooler. If this happens, you can of course request immediate delivery if you wish.

International Shipping

We deliver wine to a number of destinations worldwide. If you require overseas delivery, please email us with the relevant information and we will advise you if we can deliver to your selected destination and the shipping costs involved.

International orders are supplied GST free. Please be aware that you will be responsible for the payment of all duties and taxes that are levied by your local authorities.

Minimum order requirements apply.