The Gables has landed in the most glorious magnum bottle I have ever seen. Its dark glass, deep punt and parallel forms are as breathtaking as A Space Odyssey monolith but the real game changer here is the screw cap. A new era of oversized bottles has dawned, with Wynns super premiums next in line. […]
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Black Label is an institution and the refinement of recent vintages are the dividends of drastic vineyard makeovers with chainsaws a decade ago. 2010 is the wine to drink while the tightly wound 2009 slowly uncoils in the cellar. This early and generous vintage has been carefully handled, presenting accurate and vibrant red- and blackcurrants, […]
readA new Black Label has been born. A marketing stunt to trade off the fifty-five vintage success of Black Label Cabernet? The truth is far more compelling. Investment in smaller fermenters has allowed more batches to be kept separate at Wynns, accounting for a growing portfolio of ever more detailed styles. And the gap between […]
readWith each passing vintage, Wynns refines V&A Lane a little more intricately, and 2010 is my favourite release to date. This is a wine of consummate poise and balance, perfectly melding these two varieties in seamless coherence and impeccable polish. Oak, fruit and tannin unite in balanced measure, leaving sufficient airspace to let every detail […]
readMichael aside, this is one of the finest shiraz releases to emerge from the modern era of Wynns. Not far from the revered vineyards of Majella, Wynns lays claim to the lion’s share of vines along V&A Lane, the axis of Coonawarra and source of some of its more finely-structured wines, including a significant contribution […]
readI’ve always noted an edginess to the early-ripening Glengyle vineyard, packed with distinctive notes that venture into the greener spectrum of cabernet: capsicum, tobacco leaf, cedar, even fennel. There’s no question of its ripeness here, with the palate revving up to quite some fruit power of ripe blackcurrants. My reservation is based on oak, which […]
readThere is an element of elusive mystery in the infant years of the most revered and ageworthy of all cabernets. Distinction is denoted more by high-tensile, tightly-wound energy than by overt expressiveness. I cannot recall a Coonawarra cabernet of the past twenty-five years that embodied this as exactingly as John Riddoch 2009. This is, unreservedly, […]
readThis is a dashingly refined and pristine Michael, a wine of resolute definition and substantial longevity, exemplifying Coonawarra shiraz of the highest order. Layers of complexity ripple with expressive blackberry and deep-set plum fruits, pristine black pepper, sizzling pan juices, roast game and a backdrop of milk chocolate oak. It uncoils to reveal a breathtaking […]
readLoaded with crunchy lemon and lime, a pretty lift of lemon blossom and a long finish of grapefruit and nashi pear, this is a sauvignon ready to pour for the masses. A touch of lees contact accents its finely textured and refreshing style. $10 direct.
readThe first 2012 to make the cut for Wine Taste Weekly has been early all its life – picked in early January, three weeks earlier than usual and bottled in March, the earliest current vintage wine the bottling line has ever handled. It’s all the better for it, too, taking Teusner Sauvignon far from tropical […]
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