The Auswine Forum

<b>2000 Wynns Black Label Cabernet Sauvignon</b>
Greener than 2001 and 1999. Capsicum hints. Most elegant. Drinking well now. Will never be top class.
<b>Good 16.5 / 20</b>

<b>2001 Wynns Black Label Cabernet Sauvignon</b>
Richest and sweetest on nose and palate. Pretty good but not testicle-grabbing!
<b>Very Good 17.0 / 20</b>

<b>1999 Wynns Black Label Cabernet Sauvignon</b>
More focussed than 2000 and 2001. Tight. Abundant tannins. Showing well after 5 years.
<b>Very Good 17.5 / 20</b>

<b>1999 Wynns John Riddoch Cabernet Sauvignon</b>
Very focussed and restrained. Way too young yet. Big tannins. Needs a long time. Not in itself a superior wine at this early stage to the 1999 Black but a lot more potential.
<b>Very Good 17.5 / 20</b>

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not sure if you can say that machine harvesting has any impact on red wine quality

The decline in Wynns quality has something I have been talking about since the release of the 96 vintage Black Label Cab.

FWIW, when I interview Brian Finn when he was acting CEO at SC, he said the problem stemmed from the neglect of the vineyards. They have now spent bucket loads of money fixing them up and recently he told me the quality should be improving from now on.

Hand picked & hand sorted is definately better than machine but costly.
When machine harvest it took along leaves, twigs, stalks and a whole lot more.

I cut my teeth drinking 70, 71 & 72 Wynns Cabernet and have been an enthusiastic supporter ever since. There's no doubt in my mind quality and style have slipped in recent years, maybe 96 was the last of the line so to speak although I haven't had one for a couple of years.

I've seen how much Wynns have done in their vineyards, bloody amazing. Probably a good time to do it though given the current oversupply.

They've ripped out substantial acreages and replanted with different varieties and better clones. They've realigned some east-west to north-south presumably to get better sunlight coverage and take advantage of the prevailing southerly.

They've lopped the heads off a heap more vineyards due to the cluttered heads machine pruning has given them and will now apparently put the pruners through every third year or so to prevent that build up again. This head lopping technique is very effective in raising quality, the difference in fruit quality is dramatic. Katnook have been at it in recent years too, no doubt the reason they are now producing their best wines ever.

Despite the sheer volume made by Wynns, expect to see a real lift in quality from here on, the whole team there is absolutely dedicated to raising standards. Let's hope the bean counters leave pricing alone so we can take advantage.