Wine Review - Arimia Cabernet Merlot 2011 - A Margeret River Boutique Wine

Nestled away in the northern Margaret River Region, at the end of a long gravel road we took, we found this little winery called Arimia. We were looking for a road to the beach, but this seemed like a good place to stop anyway. They had wine!

We walked down the path to the entrance of the shop, which was a red wooden cottage with large wine barrels flanking the doorway. It looks really warm and inviting.

The Winery

We went inside to find a lovely boutique restaurant, and a bar area where we could sample some of the wines.

We tried a few wines, and spoke to one of the winemakers about their wines, and how their grapes are cultivated. Arimia are working hard at making wines which are a reflection of the soils and climate in the area, and are committed to becoming one of the few truly bio-dynamic vineyards in the region, where no foreign fertilizers and chemicals are brought onto the land, and all nutrients and composting is source directly from the land where the vines are grown.

We tasted a number of wines, some of which are uncommon in the area, and some which we really didn't like. We settled at buying a bottle of their Cabernet Merlot 2011, which we quite liked and was not too expensive, and took it back home with us to Perth.

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The Wine

When we poured the wine it had a soft, fruity and slightly sweet aroma. The flavors coming out were of bark berries and light oak. It wasn't too spicy, and seemed quite well balanced and had a silky smooth tannin. Our one regret was that we only bought one bottle. It would have been nice to keep another bottle for a year or two to see how well it ages.

Overall, as far as our Margeret River wine experiences go, this winery was worth a visit, and it was nice to be able to chat with the winemakers to see how they did things, and their vision for where they are going as a winery. Knowing a little about the wine and being able to say that we had visited the place where the grapes are grown, made the experience just a little more special. Supporting the local small wineries is also important.

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The Score

We scored the wine a 3.5 out of 5, which is not bad. Probably a little expensive, but the low-volume production cost probably has a lot to do with that. I think with a bit more time in the bottle this could be a good 4, but I'll have to get me a bottle to keep that long.

Sometimes those little places hidden out of the way are well worth stopping to check out. We'll most likely stop by this winery again on our next trip for sure.