-
98
/ 100
James Halliday -
97
/ 100
Erin Larkin -
97
/ 100
Huon Hooke -
96
/ 100
Campbell Mattinson
Red
Classification
Cabernet Sauvignon
Variety
2019
Vintage
750ml (Bottle)
Bottle Size
Australia
Country
South Australia, Coonawarra
Region
13.4%
Alcohol %
15 Plus Years
Cellaring
Scores
98 / 100"It spent 16 months in French oak (31 per cent new). This is a wine of extraordinary quality. Small wonder Sue Hodder says ‘This is certainly amongst the best wines we have made.’ It is medium-bodied, and so agile in the mouth, no one flavour dominates at any stage of its consumption."
- James Halliday
97 / 100
"Like the 2018 that preceded it, this is a wine of stature, precision and endurance. The tannins are fine and omnipresent, but then a cabernet without tannins would be like a person without purpose. This is direct, forthright and confident, with a core of pure, soft and unfettered berry fruits that cascade over the tongue and trail through the interminable finish. The piercing intensity of fruit on the middle palate echoes in the mouth. Truly, sublime."
- Erin Larkin
97 / 100
"Deep and intense ruby core with a brightness at the rim. A heady nose with blackberry, graphite and oak spice nuances that sings of the variety and region. Palate has an ethereal quality to it, intense dark fruit with layers of dry earth, ironstone and all make for a full-bodied wine yet there’s a deftness of touch that keeps you returning for further inspection. Tannins are finely integrated with power and precision to an incredibly long finish. A benchmark cabernet from Coonawarra"
- Huon Hooke
96 / 100
"This is a stellar release. It’s everything you could hope for in a cabernet; both pure and bold of fruit, elegant at the same time, lengthy, silken and rippled with fine-but-assertive tannin. One sip and I was both bowled over and convinced. It’s awash with blackcurrant, whispered with tobacco, lifted with mint and finished with both redcurrant and cedarwood. It’s the combination of power, balance and length that really sets it apart. It’s so well put together that you could easily drink it now, seriously, though of course, its true magic will come in another 20 or 40 years time."
- Campbell Mattinson
Tasting Notes
First made in 1982, the John Riddoch Cabernet Sauvignon was conceived as a flagship wine for Wynns. John Riddoch himself was a true visionary. Amongst his many achievements are the building of the Wynns Gabled winery and the establishment of the Coonawarra Fruit Colony
John Riddoch Cabernet Sauvignon is made in small quantities from the best available fruit grown on the estate's extensive Cabernet Sauvignon plantings in the heart of the terra rossa soil It has become a definitive Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon, made only in years when grapes of extraordinarily high quality are available, using less than one percent of the top-quality Cabernet Sauvignon grapes.
Tasting Profile
- Light
- Full
- Low Tannin
- Tannic
- Sweet
- Dry
- Low Acidity
- High Acidity