Wynns Coonawarra Estate Shiraz 2004 $11.40 to $22 Wynns is a magnificent, cellaring red prone to bouts of discounting. Hopefully the $11.40 price offered by 1st Choice last week will come around again somewhere in Canberra. Made by Sue Hodder, the 2004 — benefiting from vineyard rejuvenation and a shortening of time in oak — … Continue reading Wine review — Wynns, Taittinger & d’Arenberg
Penley Estate Coonawarra Phoenix Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 $19.99 At last week’s Limestone Coast Show, Singapore based writer, Ch’ng Poh Tiong awarded Phoenix the International Judge’s Trophy as his favoured wine of the show. Together with James Halliday, we’d ranked it at the top of the small 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon class, noting its vibrant, sweet, fruity … Continue reading Wine review — Penley Estate, Wynns & Ladbroke Grove
A tasting of 50 years of Wynns Coonawarra Estate cabernet sauvignons last week highlighted what a long, twisting, sometimes profitless and often frustrating struggle lies behind the emergence of significant wines. The ‘estate that made Coonawarra famous’ remained largely unknown, under various guises, for sixty years before the inspired marketing of the Wynn family gave … Continue reading Fifty years of Wynns Coonawarra cabernet sauvignon
Tasting notes of Wynns Coonawarra Estate John Riddoch Cabernet Sauvignon magnums 1982–1999 Redfingers Restaurant, Coonawarra November 15th, 2004 These are my notes made on the eve of a fifty-years-of-Wynns cabernet tasting. Wynns booklet, ‘Reflections’ covers the full sequence of wines from 1954–2004 tasted the following day. 1982 Deep colour, youthful for its age, with some … Continue reading Wine review — Wynns Coonawarra John Riddoch Cabernet Sauvignon 1982–1999
An insider’s view of the Australian wine industry and one of its successful brands The following is a transcript of my interview with Phil Laffer at Roland Flat, Barossa Valley, 14 March 2006. The interview was one of two I conducted with Phil for the production of The view from our place, a booklet released in … Continue reading The Phil Laffer tapes
Shaw Vineyard Estate Canberra District Merriman Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 $65 When Australia rode on the sheep’s back some of the finest merino wool grew on Merriman family land around Murrumbateman, New South Wales. The district remains a producer of fine wool, but shiraz now gives Murrumbateman an international reputation, earned initially by Clonakilla’s benchmark shiraz–viognier. … Continue reading Canberra cabernet wins five trophies
Coldstream Hills Reserve Chardonnay 2014 Yarra Valley, Victoria $52.25–$60 Gold medal winner, National Wine Show of Australia. Coldstream Reserve impressed at the National Wine Show. A few days later, in a line up of Coldstream Hills chardonnays dating back to the 1988 vintage, the 2014 Reserve stood out for the volume of aroma and powerful … Continue reading Wine review – gold medal and trophy winners from Australia’s National Wine Show
Torbreck The Struie Shiraz 2013 Barossa and Eden Valleys, South Australia $45–$49 Like a black hole sucking in stars, Torbreck “The Laird” Shiraz 2010 ($700) held 30 tasters captive, powerless to reach the other nine reds on the table. And little wonder. The Laird’s deep, dark power sucked the marrow from our bones and filled … Continue reading Wine review – powerful Barossa shiraz leads trans-continental Aussie wine line up
Ross Hill Pinnacle Series Shiraz 2013 Ross Hill Griffin Road vineyard, Orange, NSW $40 A year ago, as the 2014 bubbled along in its small, open fermenter, winemaker Phil Kerney drew samples of the 2013 from the French oak barriques they were resting in. A year on, and in bottle, the wine blended from all … Continue reading Wine review – Ross Hill, Peter Lehmann, El Toro Macho, Howard Park, Lark Hill and Penfolds
Majella Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 $33–$36 Majella Vineyard, Eastern Coonawarra, South Australia The Lynn family’s Majella vineyard produced grapes for some of Coonawarra’s best reds, including Wynns, before the family finally turned to making wine under its own label in the early nineties. Majella quickly built a big reputation, while maintaining modest prices. In the excellent … Continue reading Wine review – Majella, Holm Oak, Frankland Estate, Clonakilla and Illuminati