Wynns Coonawarra Estate John Riddoch Cabernet Sauvignon 1999 (1500ml)

First made in 1982, the John Riddoch Cabernet Sauvignon is the flagship wine of the Wynns portfolio. It is made in small quantities from the best available fruit grown on Wynns Coonawarra Estate's extensive Cabernet plantings. It is produced from the top 1% of available Cabernet Sauvignon grapes and is made only in the years when the grapes are of extraordinarily high quality.  It has become the definitive Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon, and is arguably richer and more concentrated than any other wine in the region.

"This will be a classic wine in ten years time. It's fruity, sure, but more so firm and tight and tannic, with excellent fruit momentum and thrilling acidity. It presents as a chunky wine of nonetheless finesse. It presents as a wine with an eye to long-term quality, rather than to short-term market trends."  Campbell Mattinson

Matured in French oak for up to 26 months, John Riddoch in its youth is intense, almost black in colour. Rich, ripe and complex, the bouquet is a voluptuous infusion of red berry, chocolate, mint, mushroom and cassis-like cabernet aromas merging with lifted, spicy new oak. It is full-bodied with persistent and mouth-filling ripe berry flavour and excellent structure. This immensely powerful cabernet requires long term cellaring - 10 to 20 years - to fully appreciate its complexity.

Expert reviews

"Deep dark scents of plums, dark olives, mulberries and blackcurrants, with a dusty, earthy background of sweet leather, chocolate and cloves... destined to soften and integrate, its firm, drying and powdery palate reveals a plush core of intense dark fruit. More fruit sweetness than the comparatively subdued 1998 vintage."  Jeremy Oliver - 97 points

"Luscious and rich with cassis, fleshy blackberry and blackcurrant. Absolutely classic with a long finish. The 1999 vintage was made in small quantities and held back for release so that the wine could mature in bottle. Great decision. Winemaker Sue Hodder has done a beautiful job here. Great structure and length, with excellent complexity and concentration."  Natalie MacLean, nataliemaclean.com - 94 points

"The oak on this 1999 John Riddoch Cabernet Sauvignon has been taken up beautifully here – much better, indeed, than the 1998 release did – though it's possible that at barrel selection time the more restrained, classical cabernet parcels were pushed forward, which is a step entirely in the right direction.

This will be a classic wine in ten years time. It's fruity, sure, but more so firm and tight and tannic, with excellent fruit momentum and thrilling acidity. It presents as a chunky wine of nonetheless finesse. It presents as a wine with an eye to long-term quality, rather than to short-term market trends. Drink: 2009-2020."  Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front - 93 points

"The Wynns John Riddoch Cabernet Sauvignon is a classically bred stayer with a pedigree extending back for yonks. Coonawarra's limestone country, covered with Terra Rossa, is where John Riddoch thrived. The 1999 Wynns John Riddoch was made in only small quantities and held back for release to obtain further bottle maturation. Tightly structured with opulent, ripe fruit flavours and charry French oak, it will gather even further intensity as the years go by. Winemaker Sue Hodder recommends a long spell."  Ross Noble, Mount Barker Courier  

Sue Hodder

Sue Hodder is one of Australia's best-known winemakers. Sue grew up in Alice Springs and began her wine career as a viticulturist before moving into winemaking. She joined Wynns in 1993 as a winemaker under the guidance of Peter Douglas before being appointed senior winemaker in 1998.

Sue celebrated her 30th vintage at Wynn's in May 2022 in the same year that the winery celebrated 40 years of the winery's John Riddoch Cabernet Sauvignon, named after the pioneer who first plated the vineyards back in 1891.

After 30 vintages, Hodder said: "I still have great joy in walking out the back door to our historic triple-gabled winery. While this beautiful building remains largely untouched, we do now use smaller tanks, oak fermenters, different oak barrels, and an optical berry sorter. These winemaking tools just enable us to be more confidently creative. Our winemaking team has had remarkably few changes over the years – we are a family at Wynns, and our house style remains clear.”

Sue Hodder has been the guiding light for Wynns since the nineties, supported by viticultural guru Allen Jenkins and winemaker Sarah Pidgeon. Over the last 20 years the team have overseen a program of revitalizing and replacing the old vines damaged by excessive machine pruning. Since 2002, 300 hectares of vines have been rejuvenated. They have also purchased the best winemaking equipment available, including an optical grape sorter that had "shocking" results, according to Hodder. "The main result is brighter fruit," she says. 

In addition, Sue has initiated a move to open fermentors in the winery and 100% French oak, which together with the viticultural improvements, have resulted in more elegant wines with greater fruit purity and very bright, precise fruit flavours and aromas. 

Sue and Allen were joint winners of the 2010 Gourmet Traveller WINE Winemaker of the Year Award, among many other accolades Sue has picked up in her esteemed career. In 2021 Sue became a Fellow of the Australian Society of Viticulture and Oenology (ASVO) for her outstanding and meritorious contribution to Australian wine

About the winery

What is now Wynns Coonawarra Estate was founded by Scottish pioneer John Riddoch. He planted vineyards in 1891 and built the famous three-gabled winery. By 1897, 89 hectares of vines had been cultivated.  After a promising start, the Coonawarra Fruit Colony (as it was called then) failed to prosper due to its distance from major markets and poor economic conditions. John Riddoch died in 1901 at the age of 73.

In 1951, Melbourne wine merchants Samuel Wynn and his son David purchased Riddoch's original vineyards and winery and renamed the property Wynns Coonawarra Estate. The Wynns family recognised the intrinsic qualities of Coonawarra wines – their richness and intensity of fruit character – and set out to build an independent identity in the region. David took over the winery operations in 1953, and commissioned Melbourne artist Richard Beck to produce a woodcut of the winery facade. This illustration has appeared on every Wynns Coonawarra Estate label since, making it one of Australia's most recognised wine symbols.

Michael Shiraz (then called Hermitage) was a one-off from the 1955 vintage. The outstanding quality of the shiraz in one particular 2,300 litre vat was recognised for its quality, and bottled separately as Michael, named after David's first son. The second release of Michael Shiraz followed many years later in 1990.

Wynns increased its holdings in Coonawarra over the next two decades. By 1981, it was the largest grower in the district with 440 hectares under vine. The first wine bearing John Riddoch's name, the Wynns John Riddoch Cabernet, was produced in 1982.

David Wynn sold Wynns in the early seventies to focus on the Mountadam Venture with his son Adam. Over the last 50 years, Wynns has had many owners and in the new millennium, the company ended up in the vast portfolio of Treasury Wine Estates.

Today, Wynns Coonawarra Estate has 500 hectares of vineyards in Coonawarra and is the region's preeminent wine producer and largest single vineyard holder with the best and longest established vineyard sites in Coonawarra. Its wines are regarded as benchmarks for the district, lauded for their consistent quality, and depth of flavour.