Wynns Coonawarra Estate John Riddoch Cabernet Sauvignon 2019

James Suckling Top 100 Wines of Australia 2022
James Halliday Top 100 Wines of 2022

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. The 2019 John Riddoch was sourced from three prime terra rossa soil vineyards with an average vine age of 36 years.

"Like the 2018 that preceded it, this is a wine of stature, precision and endurance. The tannins are fine and omnipresent, but then a cabernet without tannins would be like a person without purpose. This is direct, forthright and confident, with a core of pure, soft and unfettered berry fruits that cascade over the tongue and trail through the interminable finish. The piercing intensity of fruit on the middle palate echoes in the mouth. Truly, sublime."   Erin Larkin

"Matured for16 months in new and seasoned French oak barrels. 31% new French oak, 69% in 1-4yo French oak. 85% barriques, 15% hogsheads. Intensely dark at its core with a deep crimson/red hue. On the nose an attractive lift of violet adds floral perfume to its bright red and dark cherries, with deep undertones of chestnut and bitter dark chocolate imparting a brooding complexity. The near ideal conditions offered by 2019 have produced a brightly lit John Riddoch which flows elegantly without excess weight. Its vivid red and black forest berries sit within a classical mediumweighted frame, before they extend with great persistence to a long finish marked by an impression of sandalwood and finely detailed tannins."  Wynns Coonawarra Estate

"The 2019 John Riddoch is certainly amongst the best wines we have made at Wynns Coonawarra Estate. It was a brilliant vintage and has produced a fine and medium-bodied wine from an optimal growing season."  Sue Hodder, Winemaker

Expert reviews

"The grapes represent 1% of the total Wynns cabernet harvest. It spent 16 months in French oak (31% new). This is a wine of extraordinary quality. It is medium-bodied, and so agile in the mouth that no one flavour dominates at any stage of its consumption. Drink to 2054."  James Halliday, The Weekend Australian and Top 100 Wines of 2022 - 98 points

"This release marks 30 years of Hodder and 40 years of John Riddoch Cabernet, one of Australia's most globally respected high-end wines and a relative bargain at $150 a bottle compared to many rival releases with far inferior pedigrees. The new-release 2019 is one of the greatest; judiciously utilising great fruit to produce a stunning wine. I gave it 98 points, and I'm generally at the lower end of the scorings table. It has intense fruit concentration but also a brightness and lightness about it."  Winsor Dobbin, gourmetontheroad.com - 98 points

"The refinement of coopers (a result of repeated and long-term R&D over the years) is now starting to emerge as a key part of the success of these new release, premium wines. The selected one or two coopers work to preface the fruit and support the fruit and show the terroir… This is why we drink wine: to taste the place that it came from and to be transported there, if even for a moment. This 2019 John Riddoch Limited Release Cabernet Sauvignon is exceptional - it is pure and has tannic sway and flow, and the palate is steeped in five spice, raspberry, mulberry, cassis and black tea. Inchoate. Don't touch it for seven years at least. Even then... Drink: 2029-2059."  Erin Larkin, Wine Advocate - 97+ points 

"After a run of glorious and exuberant Californian wines, returning to a genuine, cool climate beauty was a pleasure. Impeccably refined, minutes long and monastically peaceful and calm on the palate, this is a brilliant wine and one with a 30 life ahead of it. If it looks this good already, imagine what will happen in a decade or two."  Matthew Jukes - 19.0+/20 points

"Deep crimson. Expressive blackcurrant, blackberry, mocha, espresso aromas with graphite, hint leafy notes. Generous, dense and inky with plentiful blackcurrant, blackberry fruits, fine chocolaty/ grainy tannins and well-integrated roasted chestnut, mocha, vanilla oak notes. Finishes cedar firm. Elemental and compact wine with lovely density, vigour and mineral length. Not ready to drink, but should unfold and develop brilliantly. 16 months in new and seasoned French oak barrels. 31% new French oak, 69% in 1-4yo French oak. 85% barriques, 15% hogsheads. Drink 2025 – 2038."  Andrew Caillard MW, The Vintage Journal - 97 points

"Like the 2018 that preceded it, this is a wine of stature, precision and endurance. The tannins are fine and omnipresent, but then a cabernet without tannins would be like a person without purpose. This is direct, forthright and confident, with a core of pure, soft and unfettered berry fruits that cascade over the tongue and trail through the interminable finish. The piercing intensity of fruit on the middle palate echoes in the mouth. Truly, sublime. Drink by 2052."   Erin Larkin, Halliday Wine Companion - 97 points and Special Value Wine  ★ 

"Deep and intense ruby core with a brightness at the rim. A heady nose with blackberry, graphite and oak spice nuances that sings of the variety and region. Palate has an ethereal quality to it, intense dark fruit with layers of dry earth, ironstone and all make for a full-bodied wine yet there’s a deftness of touch that keeps you returning for further inspection. Tannins are finely integrated with power and precision to an incredibly long finish. A benchmark cabernet from Coonawarra. Drink: 2022–2042."  Stuart Knox, The Real Review - 97 points

"First made in 1982, which means that a 40th Birthday is due. 2022 also marks 30 years at Wynns for winemaker Suer Hodder, and what an amazing job she’s done. This is a stellar release. It’s everything you could hope for in a cabernet; both pure and bold of fruit, elegant at the same time, lengthy, silken and rippled with fine-but-assertive tannin. One sip and I was both bowled over and convinced. It’s awash with blackcurrant, whispered with tobacco, lifted with mint and finished with both redcurrant and cedarwood. It’s the combination of power, balance and length that really sets it apart. It’s so well put together that you could easily drink it now, seriously, though of course, its true magic will come in another 20 or 40 years time. Drink: 2027-2047+."  Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front - 96+ points

"This 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon is a beautifully pure and refined Coonawarra expression with admirable focus. It initially teases with restrained red and blackcurrant fruits with a dusting of dried herbs before meat stock and cedar slowly rise up, all wrapped up in a cloak of fine French oak. It is the structure, however, that takes this vintage to the next level with immaculate, yet significant tannins superbly woven into a fabric of perfectly ripened fruit and fresh acidity. Despite obvious power, it is also a ballerina, precise and light on its feet before threading through to an exceptionally long and fine finish. A modern day classic - the only question is if it will drink well for three, four or five decades."  Angus Hughson, Vinous - 96 points 

"An enticing savoury element to the nose, a soft wood spicing, sweet with cedar and some soft scrubland thyme notes and just a hint of violet perfume. Smooth and super succulent, juicy and fresh, instantly lively on the palate full of direction and purpose. Crunchy and bright yet also sumptuous and filling, the tannins are plump, massy and cover the mouth but gently and delicately so you get a sense of refinement and class here while still having power and concentration. It's certainly on the ripe side, with plenty of sun-kissed, concentrated fruit as well as dark chocolate and cedar. A sense of classicism to this, it's expansive and has a lovely Cabernet menthol touch at the end which is so appealing and leaves a moreish lasting impression. Ageing 16 months in new and seasoned French oak barrels; 31% new French oak, 69% in 1-4 year old French oak (85% barriques, 15% hogsheads)."  Georgina Hindle, Decanter.com - 96 points

Awards

James Suckling Top 100 Wines of Australia 2022
James Halliday Top 100 Wines of 2022
Special Value Wine – Halliday Wine Companion  ★  

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.