GTW Tasting of Coonawarra and Limestone Coast, June/July issue
These Gourmet Traveller Tastings always throw up (no pun intended) interesting results, and ‘the expert judging panel’ is a bunch of serious wine dudes: Peter Bourne, Mike Bennie, Nick Bullied, Andrew Caillard MW, Huon Hooke, Peter Forrestal, and Toni Patterson MW. In other words, we can expect the scores to be more meaningful than usual.
Sadly, the 95 points scored by the Brands Laira 171 Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 immediately questions that assumption. I’ve no idea why judges and reviewers keep falling for these overworked, over-extracted, over-oaked concoctions. Like a General in a South American country, this wine has far more medals on its chest than genuine fortitude inside it. $70 at McWilliams.
A higher price doesn’t guarantee better wine
The region’s most expensive reds didn’t make it into the top group:
- Penfolds $350 Bin 169 Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 only scored 95
- Reschke’s $150 Emperean 2006 scored just 94 points
- Parker Estate’s $100 First Growth 2009 garnered a modest 93 points
- Wynns’ $150 John Riddoch 2010 had to make do with just 92 points
- Balnaves $90 The Tally Reserve 2010 came home with just 91 points
- Tapanappa’s $75 Whalebone Vineyard Merlot Cabernet Franc only scored 90 points
The top wines on 96 points (the highest rating) are $50 – $75
- Majella The Mallea 2010
- Parker 95 Block Cabernet 2012
- Petaluma 2010
- Lindeman’s St George 2013
A modest price doesn’t mean a modest wine
A single point separates the top wines from this group on 95 points:
Casella Limited Release Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 – was about $40 when you could buy it last year, no idea what it’s doing in this tasting. It’s another one of those overworked reds that’s had every trick in the book and the kitchen sink thrown at it.
Wynns Coonawarra Estate Alex 88 Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 – $60 at MW Wines. I don’t know this wine, but it scores 95 points with the Winefront.
Penfolds Bin 169 Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 – $330 at Sixty Darling St, unprocurable elsewhere, not sure what it’s doing in this tasting. You can still buy the 2008 for $325 at Kemenys.
Wynns Black label Coonawarra Cabernet 2012 – $25 at Winestar. Here we have a wine that sells for less than one-tenth of the Bin 169 with the same score, and this time the scores from various reviewers are so close it’s a miracle: Halliday 96, Stelzer 95, Jordan 95, Walsh 94+. I didn’t think it was that exciting and gave it 93 points.
Leconfield Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon 2013 – $27 at Kemenys. Another red that sells for less than 10% of the Bin 169’s price, and Kemenys also offers this wine for $18 under a Hidden Label. However, I scored it a few points lower than the GTW panel when I tried it a few months ago.
Misplaced and Missing
Yalumba The Cigar Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 – $22 at Jim’s Cellars. This is a stylish Cabernet with a pretty dense core that needs time to open up. It’s glossy but firm and long with fine tannins on the finish. More elegance and more finesse than most Coonawarra Cabernets (14%), tastes like a more expensive wine. 94+ points (92 points from GTW)
Yalumba Menzies Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 – $45 at Dan M’s or Nick’s. Yalumba This red has clearly enjoyed privileged treatment but nothing is overdone or forced here. There’s just a tad more of everything – blackcurrant fruit, dried herbs, tobacco, cedary oak, length and depth and French polish. There’s more complexity than the Cigar, even more refinement and more layers of flavour in a slinky, medium-bodied package. One of the best Cabernets I’ve tasted in years. 96 points. (91 points from GTW – hard to comprehend).
Balnaves The Blend 2013 – $20 at Dan M’s. One of the best Cabernet Merlots we’ve seen from Coonawarra – smooth and silky with fragrant, elegant fruit and a touch of oak. Could have a touch more depth but it’s a minor quibble at this price. Off the scale on drinkability.
Zema Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 – $23 at Kemenys. Old style Coonawarra Cabernet made by one of the old families, the wine shows cassis and dark cherry fruit and a lot of finesse in a medium bodied and perfectly balanced frame.
Mildara Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 – $22 at Kemenys. This wine is a miracle, a return from the dead, and it’s in top form. Haven’t seen this label in years but here it is: a classy, minty Cabernet with dense dark fruits wrapped in polished oak, and with plenty of depth and length. Built for the long haul. I give it 94 points, so does Campbell Mattinson from the Winefront.
You’ve seen the best, now for the rest
Brands Blockers Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 – $14 at Dan M’s (today). I haven’t liked the huge chunky reds (14.8%) under this label, but the 2012 has more style and appeal than usual. Gary Walsh hits it on the head with this comment: ‘… maybe a few tweaks in the winery to steer it gently away from the stolid stalwart style of yore?’ GTW gives the wine 94 points, Gary’s score is 92+, and mine is 92. Super bargain at this price if you like this style.
Mr Riggs Outpost Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon 2013 – $20 at Nicks. Another big ripe Coonawarra red. Lacks style and finesse IMHO. GTW score is 92, Winefront: 89, Nicks: 95.
Riddoch Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 – $14 at Dan M’s. Another big red at a bargain price. 91 from GTW, 90 from the Winefront. Haven’t tried it.
The full list is enclosed below
Kim
