Last August the Adelaide Fine Wine Appreciation Club (AFWAC) had a tasting of a complete vertical of the Wynns Coonawarra Estate Single Vineyard releases, from the inaugural 2001 Harold Vineyard Cabernet to the yet to be released (in Australia) 2012 Alex 88 Vineyard Cabernet. Progressing from oldest to youngest the wines were notably more impressive as they got younger, possibly the rewards from the improvements to the vineyards combined with a remarkably smart use of controlled oak influences in the later wines.
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THE VINEYARDS:
Harold: 9 hectare block purchased from Harold Childs and planted to Cabernet in 1971: the 2001 single vintage wine was made prior to the vineyard renovation when it was still dry grown and yielded just 8 tonnes to the hectare. Between 2002-2008 drip irrigation was installed after fears that water stress was beginning to kill the vines, there was also canopy reconstruction and new trellising.
Johnson's: The dry-grown Johnson's blocks were acquired by Wynns in 1951, and were planted with 33 hectares of Shiraz in 1925 and 19 hectares of Cabernet in 1954: the Johnson's Cabernet vines are the oldest in Coonawarra, typically yielding 2 tonnes per hectare, the Shiraz around 5-6 tonnes.
Messenger: 3.3 hectare dry-grown vineyard planted in 1975, one of the most southerly of Wynns vineyards purchased in 1988.
Alex 88: 15 hectares of bare land purchased from Mildara in 1982 and planted in 1988 with a range of traditional and modern clones of Cabernet, it ripens typically 1-2 weeks later than the Alex 84 vineyard and 2-3 weeks later than the V&A sections. The 2006 vintage was picked solely from the Reynella Clone vines from one section of the block.
Glengyle: Planted in 1969 and purchased by Wynns in 1993, the vineyard underwent renovations starting in 2002 including complete cordon removal involving chainsaws. Located on a warmer, higher ridge, it's regularly one of the first of Wynns Cabernet sites to ripen and be picked.
Davis: The tiny 2.5 hectare block opposite Johnson's was planted in 1957, and fully renovated in 2002, this is Sue Hodder's favourite vineyard and is a regular contributor to John Riddoch. It is also a valued source of much of Wynns'¢ replanting material.
Childs: Originally planted in 1969 this vineyard just south of Glengyle has long been a major contributor to John Riddoch, in particular the 1998 vintage: it was completely renovated in 2009.
FLIGHT 1:
2001 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Harold Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (cork): 13.5% alc. Medium to very dark red/garnet. Opens strong with cassis, menthol, earth, blackcurrant and black coal, touches of dried herbs and chocolate leading to cedar and peppermint, the oak obvious but never overpowering. The scale of the palate is just as big and well balanced, with lots of sweet black fruits, vanillin oak and chewy tannins throughout it's length, a touch of green but mainly black, ripe and chewy. For many years this wine has been a bit of a disappointment but it has finally blossomed; that said, the remnants in the bottle began to fade very quickly, this is as good as it will get.
2003 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Johnson's Block Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon (cork): 13% alc. Medium garnet/brick. Lighter, riper fruit reflecting the Shiraz dominance and warm year, mulberries, raspberries, black pepper, dried cranberries, rum and raisin chocolate. The palate's quite light in weight for the label, maybe just over medium-weight at most, and is mature, elegant and peppery with a silky, minty finish. Best bottles are drinking well now, but the demon of random oxidation struck tonight; one of the two bottles (purchased the same time on release, stored next to each other) was not as good and in contrast clearly past its best, overly stocky and leathery.
2004 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Johnson's Block Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon (screwcap): 13.5% alc. Medium to dark red. There's still a strong touch of sulphur/struck match on the nose at first, stinky and slightly horsy with minty/herbal boysenberry fruit and white pepper emerging; the palate's powerful and minty, with a peppery mid-palate and noticeably grippy, slightly bitter green tea tannins on the finish. This was Wynn's first vintage under screwcap and I think they overdid the sulphur; it's still reductive, and while the wine will last for many years I am not convinced it will ever totally blow off.
FLIGHT 2:
2005 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Messenger Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (screwcap): 13.5% alc. Dark to inky red. Powerful nose full of fresh wood, black jubes, liquorice and graphite, for ten years old this is still startlingly young; the palate's earthy, still a little only above medium weight and seeming light on fruit and heavy on thick, grippy tannins, finishing minty. It's immature and still needs many years to flesh out, although it will never be as big or as good as the 2010 vintage.
2006 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Alex 88 Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (screwcap): 14% alc. Medium to almost dark garnet. Quite a ripe nose and palate, with dark chocolate and cassis and a touch of lifted nail polish/minty EA that's more akin to Reynella than Coonawarra; maybe that's presence of the Reynella clone? The palate's genuinely medium to full weight with a fat mid-palate, minty and peppery with mulberry fruit and thick, velvety black tea tannins and liquorice thought it's length. Not quite the complete package yet, I feel it still needs a couple of years cellaring.
FLIGHT 3:
2007 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Glengyle Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (screwcap): 14% alc. Impressive dark to inky red, still a hint of purple. Amazingly young, powerful and strong for the vintage, blueberries and blackberries dusted in icing sugar with lovely mocha oak well in the background. The tarry palate's a touch more sweet and sour but it's fat with jubes, cassis, kirsch and black liquorice, finishing very long with gravelly tannins. Wynns mentioned overhead frost protection sprinklers saved the crop from the worst October frosts on record, and the result is one of the very few South Australian 2007 wines I would recommend as an anniversary wine, it's outstanding for the vintage.
2008 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Davis Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (screwcap): 14% alc. Dark red/crimson. Lovely nose that's lifted, minty and slightly meaty, fully ripe blackcurrant with tobacco, pencil shavings and graphite, although I also pick up a little raisin there too. The palate's young and grippy, opening with a whack of acidity followed by cherry cola and peppermint, finishing gravelly and minerally. It shows some signs of the warmer vintage, but was well liked and voted overall WOTN by the group.
2009 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Glengyle Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (screwcap): 14% alc. Medium to darkish red with a hint of purple. Startlingly herbal and relatively lightweight in this flight, jubey with touches of dried basil, bay leaf, strawberry and tobacco backed by attractive, spicy oak; it does have very good length and velvety tannins. It shows all the traits of a cooler year than 2007, and I'd call this a medium term prospect in comparison.
FLIGHT 4:
2010 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Messenger Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (screwcap): 13.5% alc. Dark to inky red/purple. Inky, dark nose full of blueberry, blackcurrant, violets, peppermint, touches of herbs, graphite and black coal backed by attractive mocha oak. Sour jubes on entry leads to a tarry, ripe, jubey and slightly meaty/soupy mid-palate full of black liquorice, finishing long and silky with malty/spicy oak. There are elements here that remind me of young Bordeaux, this is a superb wine and it almost got my WOTN vote.
2010 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Alex 88 Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (screwcap): 13.5% alc. Dark to almost inky red with a hint of purple. Opens with obvious sweet cedar oak with a little nail polish, the fruit seemingly a lot riper than the Messenger and slightly raisined; a fat, sweet entry leads to a dark, chalky palate with a noticeable mid-palate hole, finishing with velvety, gravelly tannins and attractive spicy/mocha oak. An interesting contrast to the Messenger, I think it will peak sooner.
FLIGHT 5:
2012 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Childs Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (screwcap): 13.5% alc. Medium to very dark purple/red, it still looks like a barrel sample. Beautifully perfumed, full of blueberries, blackcurrants and pastilles with the most subtle lift, with touches of game, black tea, red liquorice and malty oak in the background. The palate's superb, juicy and bigger in scale than the Alex 88 and yet also seemingly more elegant, its charm reminds me of the approachability of the 2010 John Riddoch, finishing long, silky and minerally with a little graphite. While some elements of the 2010 Messenger reminded me of some masculine expressions of Bordeaux, this touched on more feminine aspects; it was such a gorgeous wine it had to get my WOTN vote.
2012 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Alex 88 Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (screwcap): 13.5% alc. Medium to very dark red/purple. Earthy and minty with thunderous peppermint, blackberry, black coal and graphite characters; it appears leaner than the other Alex 88 vintages at first but the tannins are finer too, the finish chalky and minerally, the balance spot on. This was my favourite of the Alex 88 wines tonight, it seems to be built for the long haul.
The overall votes for the best wine of the night:
1st: 2008 Davis Vineyard - 11 votes
2nd: 2012 Childs Vineyard - 9 votes
3rd: 2006 Alex 88 Vineyard - 2 votes
=4th: 2003 Johnson's Block, 2005 Messenger Vineyard, 2010 Messenger Vineyard, 2010 Alex 88 Vineyard, 2012 Alex 88 Vineyard - 1 vote each
Cheers,
Ian
