Lindemans Pyrus 1996

The Coonawarra Trio of Limestone Ridge Vineyard Shiraz Cabernet, St George Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon and Pyrus Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot Malbec are all of exemplary quality."  James Halliday

Lindemans Pyrus is a classic Bordeaux style blend sourced from the centre of Coonawarra's Terra Rossa strip, including the century old nursery vineyard, the oldest planting in the Coonawarra. It utilizes a backbone of old vine Coonawarra Cabernet, fleshed out by Merlot, Malbec and Cabernet Franc to create a particularly rich, and supple wine of great complexity.

"The bouquet is clean, with an intriguing mix of sweet berry fruit on the one hand and more savoury bitter chocolate and earth on the other. An elegant wine in the mouth, of light to medium intensity, nicely balanced and with the dominant savoury characters reflecting the Merlot Cabernet Franc components. Finishes with soft tannins appropriate to the weight of the wine."  James Halliday

2006 Vintage Rating: "Another great vintage in Coonawarra. Very elegant, tight wines. Many bordeaux look-alikes."  Andrew Wood, Divine Magazine

"Yields for the Malbec and Cabernet Franc were low which has resulted in a smaller quantity of Pyrus being made in the 1996 vintage. Made from a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec and Cabernet Franc the wine was matured in new French oak hogsheads and barriques for 17 months. Dark crimson-red colour. On the nose there are complex cedar and mint aromas as well as regional plum fruit characters so typical of the Coonawarra, with well integrated lightly toasted French oak in the background. The palate displays fully ripened sweet fruit flavours finishing with soft, velvety tannins. The Cabernet Sauvignon has provided the solid base, the Merlot softness, the Cabernet Franc mintiness and the Malbec palate length. This is one of the best Pyrus blends produced to date. The soft tannin structure and ripe fuit make it very drinkable now although it will cellar a further 5-7 years."  Lindemans

Expert reviews

"Medium to full red-purple; the bouquet is clean, with an intriguing mix of sweet berry fruit on the one hand and more savoury bitter chocolate and earth on the other. An elegant wine in the mouth, of light to medium intensity, nicely balanced and with the dominant savoury characters reflecting the Merlot Cabernet Franc components. Finishes with soft tannins appropriate to the weight of the wine."  James Halliday, Halliday Wine Companion – 90 points

About the winery

Lindemans Hunter Valley Winery and Vineyards

Lindemans was founded in 1843 by Dr Henry John Lindeman who planted its first vines on his 816-acre property 'Cawarra' on the Upper Paterson River in the Hunter Valley wine region. The business flourished and nine years later, Lindeman established a head office, and storage and bottling facilities in Sydney.

Fast forward over a century and Lindeman's winemaker Karl Stockhausen crafted many sublime Hunter semillons (labelled Hunter River Riesling) in the mid-1950s to late-1960s, together with some great Hunter shiraz (labelled Hunter River Burgundy). The 1965 Lindemans Hunter River Burgundy Bin 3100 and 1965 Lindemans Hunter River Burgundy 3110 were iconic wines that generated a cult following in subsequent decades.

While Lindemans was established in the Hunter Valley, it was an early pioneer of cross-regional sourcing. Under the direction of Ray Kidd, one of Australia's great and largely unsung wine men, who ran Lindemans from 1962 to 1986, Lindemans expanded into the Barossa Valley, Coonawarra, Padthaway, Clare Valley and Corowa. Ray bought Leo Buring in 1962 and Rouge Homme in 1965, purchased the century-old Nursery vineyard (the oldest planting in Coonawarra) in 1965 and planted the Limestone Ridge and St Georges vineyards in 1967 and 1969 respectively. Lindemans produce their famous Trio of benchmark Coonawarra wines - St George Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Limestone Ridge Vineyard Shiraz Cabernet and Pyrus Cabernet blend - from these three vineyards.

Lindemans most successful wine was the infamous Ben Ean Moselle which was aimed at the lower end of the market and produced in enormous quantities to compete with Orlando's Barossa Pearl. It financed much of Lindemans' growth in the 1970s and reached its peak in 1979 when it accounted for more than 20% of Australia's bottled white wine sales. Ben Ean was the creation of Ray Kidd while he was Lindemans' cellar and vineyard manager in the late 1950s and was originally produced from Hunter Semillon with some Verdelho. Kidd correctly predicted that the hugely successful fruity carbonated sweet Pearl wines would lead drinkers to demand still table wines with the same features.

In 2005, the Lindemans brand and assets, which had been previously owned by Foster's and Southcorp, were acquired by Treasury Wine Estates. The Coonawarra Trio continue to be a compelling expression of wine borne of the famed terra rossa soil, but sadly various factors including time, fashion and complacency have worked against their reputation. The globalisation of the brand name has also not helped, as they seem to get lost in such a commercially focused portfolio.