Wynns Coonawarra Estate John Riddoch Cabernet Sauvignon 2008

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.

"Since John Riddoch's reintroduction under Hodder and Pidgeon, the style has retained its power and intensity but become softer. The current release is densely coloured with a brilliant crimson rim - a deep and brooding wine in which the cabernet fruit and oak really sing in harmony. This is a great cabernet."  Chris Shanahan

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 colour. Fresh fragrant liquorice/ elderberry/ violet/ aniseed aromas - touch of vanilla. Gorgeous wine. Dense elderberry/dark plum, juicy fruit flavours, supple sweet tannins, layers of dense fruit, touch of paneforte/ praline. Finishes long and sweet. Immensely concentrated but minerally. Percussion and vinosity. 2020-2040."  Andrew Caillard MW – 98 points

"''2008 was really the first year that we knew heat was going to be around—we knew it was coming,' says winemaker Sue Hodder. 'We had a heat wave. It was hot. We worked with staggered picks (east to west), we managed light with leaf positioning—letting light in on the east side for morning light, and plenty of coverage on the west. We had new fermenters in 2008. A mini winery within the old winery that was commissioned in time for the 2008 vintage. With this we could carve out sections within the vineyards, and work with much more detail.' Often we hear this kind of information, but it can be challenging to see the specific improvements in the final wine. In this case, the detail and the focus is palpable. This 2008 John Riddoch Limited Release Cabernet Sauvignon is plush and full, showing its warm birth year, and it’s got incredible intensity of tannin in the mouth. The tannins are firm, grippy but very fine and provide a scaffold from which the fruit can hang. It has plush licorice, succulent raspberry and mulberry. The vineyard(s) pattern is emerging over the vintage. A great thing. It is perfectly ready to drink now and also perfectly set up to go another 20 years. Drink: 2022 - 2042."  Erin Larkin, Wine Advocate - 97 points (Tasted Aug 2022)

"2008 was really the first year that we knew heat was going to be around—we knew it was coming," says winemaker Sue Hodder. 'We had a heat wave. It was hot. We worked with staggered picks (east to west), we managed light with leaf positioning—letting light in on the east side for morning light, and plenty of coverage on the west. We had new fermenters in 2008. A mini winery within the old winery that was commissioned in time for the 2008 vintage. With this we could carve out sections within the vineyards, and work with much more detail." Often we hear this kind of information, but it can be challenging to see the specific improvements in the final wine. In this case, the detail and the focus is palpable. This 2008 John Riddoch Limited Release Cabernet Sauvignon is plush and full, showing its warm birth year, and it's got incredible intensity of tannin in the mouth."  Robert Parker, Robert Parker Wine Advocate - 97 points

"A fascinating contrast to the Davis Single Vineyard; I never expected a young John Riddoch to be elegant and silky, but this is, its intense blackcurrant and cassis fruit caressing the mouth and drawing out the saliva. Less than 1% of Wynns Coonawarra cabernet goes to make this wine. Drink by: 2033."  James Halliday, Halliday Wine Companion -  97 points

"From the outset this wine is strikingly magnificent, the nose has cedary oak, dense blackberry and earth that play off each other effortlessly. The palate is as concentrated as it is textured , the depth of blackcurrant fruit and it's integration with slightly spicy oak and lingering tannins is superb. The finish has considerable length and picks up some tomato leaf like complexity. This is a wine that deserves the mantle of one of Australia's best Cabernets. Optimal Drinking: 2020-2030."  Patrick Eckel, Wine Reviewer – 97 points

"Deep, dark, dense red-purple colour. Slightly subdued fruit, with toasty-barrel oak and savoury characters to the fore on the nose. Slightly roasted fruit character, not really bright varietal notes. Dense and almost thick in the mouth; concentrated and fleshy, with loads of mouth-coating tannins and a savoury finish. Big wine and solid, not as elegant as some recent Riddochs, perhaps, but a product of the hot year. Will cellar well and long. Drink: 2011-2030."  Huon Hooke, The Real Review - 96 points

"Strong and handsomely oaked, this assertive, long-term cabernet unfolds deep layers of fruit and perfume, with intense but earthy aromas of cassis, briar and spicy, slightly meaty cooperage backed by nuances of briar and dried herbs. It's firm but pliant, with a deep, spotless presence of cassis, mulberries and dark plums tightly knit with fine-grained, chocolate/savoury oak, finishing with exceptional length and lingering nuances of cola and herbs. Drink: 2028-2038."  Jeremy Oliver - 95 points

"JR is legendary among Coonawarra cabernets and only recently has it really found its mojo. 2008 is reticent lurking, with deep black fruits, powerful concentration and oak integration that defines the modern era of JR. Excellent palate completeness, length and line, bringing calm control to its power."  Tyson Stelzer, Wine Taste - 95 points

"A deep, rich nose with a leafy edge and richer chocolate notes to its juicy cassis and savoury black olive fruit.  Firm ripe tannins lend plenty of support while an undertow of mineral acidity lends precision – lovely definition and focus to the finish.  Broachable now but so much more to give.  Very good indeed; great poise/balance. Resist this one for now if you can!"  Sarah Ahmed, The Wine Detective

"Sarah Pidgeon says the flagship cabernet comes from a diversity of vineyards sprinkled around Coonawarra, principally in the north, but can include southern vineyards in warmer years. Since John Riddoch's reintroduction under Hodder and Pidgeon, the style has retained its power and intensity but become softer. The current release is densely coloured with a brilliant crimson rim – a deep and brooding wine in which the cabernet fruit and oak really sing in harmony. This is a great cabernet."  Chris Shanahan, Canberra Times

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.