WYNNS COONAWARRA CABERNET SAUVIGNON

Description

Much digital ink has been spilled about Coonawarra’s famed “Terra Rossa” iron-rich, clay/limestone soils, and much of it well-warranted. Some of Australia’s most quintessential wines come from the little 12km by 1km strip of land in the middle of seemingly nowhere, halfway between Adelaide and Melbourne. Many wines grown on flatlands like this tend to be uninspiring due to overly fertile soil and overcropping, but the Terra Rossa soil is actually a relatively thin and well-drained layer that sits above a hard limestone plate that prevents the vines from digging deeper and keeps the vigour in check. The other issue vineyards on flatlands usually experience is poor diurnal range, and just an overall propensity to hold heat a bit too well. Coonawarra, however, being just 60km from the limestone coast gets nice moderating sea breezes to keep everything in check. Couple that with Aussie producers showing a little more restraint in recent years and you have all the ingredients to make some of the best Cab anywhere in the world.

All of the land that makes up the region was at one point owned by just one person (to be fair, it isn’t that much land). John Riddoch, ‘the Squire of Penola’ as he was called, in 1891, began selling four hectare allotments for €100 each. 26 people answered the call and effectively created the region as it is now. It failed to prosper however due to, well, being in the middle of nowhere. It wouldn’t be until 1951 that Samuel Wynn would breathe some life into the region and buy the land which had not been claimed by the other producers during the original land offering; which ended up being nearly half the land in Coonawarra.

The wines now are of course world renowned, and often offer some of the best value in the entire new-world Cabernet Sauvignon segment. Expect notes of blackcurrants, sage, black plum, tobacco, cocoa dust, and fresh raspberry. It has wonderful freshness on the palate for being so full-bodied, and loads of very fine tannins. It drink well now, and it will age brilliantly.