Very deep, dark, brooding purple/red colour, with a remarkably complex, savoury bouquet of beautifully-integrated fruit and oak, very ripe cabernet aromas with zero leafy or green notes and lots of dark brooding black fruit and cassis characteristics intertwined with cedar, smoky-bacon and graphite nuances. The wine is almost decadently rich and fleshy, full-bodied and loaded with extract, the abundant tannins extremely supple and superbly knitted into the fabric of the wine. Riveting intensity. A glorious cabernet.

98 points, The Real Review (September 2021)

Wynns’ flagship cabernet, selected from the best estate vineyards and refined even further from the top one per cent of the harvest. Without question, this wine exhibits the most elite nuances imaginable of dark berry and mint chocolate aromatics and flavours, enhanced by an exciting tension in the palate with energetic acidity pulsating underneath and lively tannins offering support from the sidelines as all the elements swell with promise and delight with immediate pleasure. The structures here suggest extraordinary longevity. Top of the tree.

98 points, Wine Pilot

Oh my, this is such a good wine – as good as any that have been released under this label. It is remarkable that a wine of such finesse and refinement should also have such power and drive. But that’s Coonawarra in a good year, managed with first rate winemaking after the viticulturist has delivered the fruit. Has a slightly liqueur cherry aroma with cool leaf and tobacco leaf nuances. The palate is sublime with the fine weave of tannin, fine grained oak and silky-smooth fruit. As you might expect it is still a little shy and closed but decanting will give you a glimpse of what it will become.

98 points, Wine Pilot

Ah, that scent. It’s everything to do with Coonawarra: eucalypt mixing with earth, briar and Aussie bush and the region’s number one grape variety’s black-hearted intensity. And, so, so snug and inviting.

This may be one of the more relaxed John Riddoch releases of recent times. It seems all set to go right now. The country scents are immediately approachable, so too the woodsy spice, toasty oak and generous fruit. It all but melts on the tongue but do not on any count underestimate the power that lies underneath the surface.

96 points, Wine Pilot

Deep crimson. A wonderfully evocative wine. Fragrant pure blackcurrant, dark cherry aromas with integrated praline, mocha, roasted chestnut notes and touches of sage and violet. Beautifully concentrated wine with voluminous blackcurrant, dark cherry, mulberry fruits, plentiful fine grainy al dente tannins, superb dark chocolate, mocha, espresso complexity and underlying chinotto, sage notes. Finishes grainy/ cedar firm with pure cassis, kirsch notes and a plume of extract. Elegant, powerful and expansive with the structure and balance for long term aging; the fruit, tannin, oak and acidity are beautifully integrated. 15 months in new (18%) and seasoned French oak hogsheads (47%) and barriques (53%). Although it’s drinking well, the best is yet to come. Keep for a few years at least. 14% alc Drink 2024-2036+

99 points