In every extraordinary vintage, winemakers Sue Hodder and Sarah Pidgeon choose one vineyard from which to make a single vineyard wine. The very first of these special wines, in 2001, was Harold Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon. Since its 2001 debut, this particular vineyard has been singled out for its own bottling in 2013, and again in 2018.
Harold Vineyard was first planted in 1971, and was named after agriculturalist Harold Childs who tended the land prior to selling the land to Wynns. A typically medium-bodied Cabernet, Harold is a terroir-focused wine from only the very best years.
While a player in the value field after being absorbed by big company wine, the top cuvées of Wynns are now, again, rather exceptional. This is lithe, savoury, mid-weighted and pointed, with currant and black plum scents sheathed in a quiver of impeccably massaged tannins, subtle oak and a waft of mint and bayleaf, caressing the finish. 2018, a fantastic vintage, bequeaths flavour and firmness in all the right places. This is how Coonawarra should be. A highly versatile, dry table wine that is balletically poised, beautifully detailed, loosely knit enough to drink relatively young while firm enough to hold. Singing!
95 points (October 2020)
Quite lush, lavish, loaded with flavour, oozing liquid spice, slick with silky yet firm ribbons of tannin, a succulent, fresh, gently sweet finish. Lots going on here. A big experience without being full of booze and ripe fruit. Complex is a good word, albeit often overused in wine. Fills the palate with generosity but remains perky and taut. It gives me a sense of ‘secondary characters will make this wine better with time in cellar’ almost immediately. Drink now, for sure, but patience is the game here.
95+ points, The Wine Front (September 2020)
Medium deep crimson. Lovely violet camomile, blackcurrant aromas with cedar and sage notes. Generously proportioned seductive wine with inky cassis mulberry dark chocolate flavours, mocha oak complexity and slinky fine grainy tannins. Finishes chocolatey firm with persistent blackcurrant dark plum fruits. Beautifully balanced wine with lovely vinosity, texture and mineral length.
96 points (October 2020)
Coonawarra
The first vines were planted in Coonawarra by John Riddoch in 1890, however it was not until the renewed interest in table wine production in the 1950's that Coonawarra was brought into the limelight. Located almost 380 km southeast of Adelaide, Coonawarra is today one of the most famous red wine regions in Australia. Its weathered limestone terra rossa soils, avaibility of water and relatively cool maritime climate make it a unique viticultural region. Extremely flat and unprotected, Coonawarra is exposed both to the swinging influences of the cool Great Southern Ocean and hot, dry northerly winds. Spring frosts also pose a major threat with the potential to wipe out entire crops. Mechanical harvesting is widely employed in the region although smaller producers prefer to tend their vines by hand. Coonawarra is best known for classically-styled Cabernet Sauvignon, although in good years, Shiraz from the region is also very compelling.
