St Hugo Coonawarra Cabernet Vertical spanning 3 Decades

Hosted by Merce at his home. This has been in the planning for 6 months and finally came together. It was worth the wait!

• 1993 St Hugo Cabernet Sauvignon Coonawarra

  Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra

  Under cork which crumbled upon opening. Garnet/browning in colour with quite a thick watery rim. Savoury on the nose. Soft, restrained on the palate with not much fruit to speak of. Thin was a comment from one observer. Medium finish but overall underwhelming. Definitely at the end of its life, probably drinking better a few years ago, and on the downward slope to oblivion. Drink up if you have any left in the cellar. Was the weakest bottle in the flight and overall vertical line-up.

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• 1994 St Hugo Cabernet Sauvignon Coonawarra

  Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra

  According to Cellar Tracker this is the 26th bottle of this I have consumed over the years and remarkably have not lost one to cork taint. Amazing! Again, under cork which came out in one piece and was in excellent condition just like the wine. Deep ruby in colour obviously showing its age, but unlike the 1993, had a very fruit forward nose with a savoury underbelly … walnut was observed by one drinker. Surprisingly for a 30-year-old wine a very fruit forward palate with dark chocolate and savoury oak which was mouth coating. Not overly complex but soft and smooth, finishing long with very fine tannins. Still drinking well but won’t improve with age but does have at least another 5-7 years before it starts to fade. Most in the group picked this in their top 2 of the flight which was surprising considering it was up against the 1996 and 1998.

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• 1996 St Hugo Cabernet Sauvignon Coonawarra

  Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra

  Did not start well as the cork had been leaking and was completely saturated. However, managed to pry out in one piece. An initial taste revealed a tight but unoxidized wine so there was some hope. Deep red in colour and after a 2 hour decant a wine displaying soft savoury dark fruit aromas was revealed. On the palate there was lots going on … a very complex, elegant, well balanced wine deeply flavoured with a long finish of soft, silky tannins. Interesting 18 years ago I wrote this wine was the “complete package” and based on this bottle I would still agree with those words. No rush to drink this vintage as it has many years ahead of it and well cellared bottles could even improve further. Wine of the flight and night for me and a few others.

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• 1998 St Hugo Cabernet Sauvignon Coonawarra

  Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra

  Under cork which came out in one piece and was in excellent condition. From the famed 1998 “unicorn” vintage. Great colour, deep bright red with beautiful aromas of sweet dark fruit, spice and vanilla (oak). Very rich on the palate, big, powerful, but well balanced and flavoursome. This is a show pony … a look at me, look at me wine!! Not overly complex like the 1996 before it, but fruit driven with blackcurrant and berry … with a long, long integrated silky tannin finish. One in the group thought it finished a little bitter. Definitely a crowd pleaser and has plenty left in the tank, but unlike the 1996 won’t improve with further bottle age. Lives up to the hype of the vintage but lacking the X factor for me.

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• 2004 St Hugo Cabernet Sauvignon Coonawarra

  Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra

  Under cork which came out in one piece and was in excellent condition. Amazing this is nearly 20 years old! From the classic 2004 vintage which was quite dark in colour. Very enjoyable up front, very fruit forward, well balanced, and had everything in the right place except for the finish which disappeared very quickly. Enjoyable but no real excitement factor or complexity. Won’t get any better so time to drink up. Wasn’t the weakest in the flight but was just over-awed on the night with the company it was in.

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• 2007 St Hugo Cabernet Sauvignon Coonawarra

  Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra

  Our first screw capped bottle and it showed. This was very closed even after a 2 hour decant. Muted nose not giving much away. First sip showed plenty of white pepper, mint and spice. Up to now probably the most different St Hugo in the line-up. Big and dense with a medium finish. Maybe would show better with food? For me this was my least favourite vintage in the flight.

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• 2008 St Hugo Cabernet Sauvignon Coonawarra

  Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra

  Screwcap. Talked this vintage up to the group even before we started the flight and expected this to be the highlight. It didn’t let us down. Bright crimson, dark purple in colour, this had a beautiful nose of sweet black fruit and menthol. The palate is mouth coating, fruit forward and balanced from start to finish. Like the 1996 the words “complete package” comes to mind but unlike the 1996, dare I say it, probably hasn’t peaked yet. Has everything you would expect from a bottle of St Hugo in spades. Rich, concentrated, juicy, structured, and complex, finishing long with fine powdery tannins. Beautiful wine which with additional bottle age could surpass the 1996 in time. No rush to drink and will see another 10 years with ease. Was the wine of the flight for most and some picked this as their wine of the night. For me came in 2nd to the 1996 … but only just.

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• 2009 St Hugo Cabernet Sauvignon Coonawarra

  Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra

  Strangely under cork (?) which came out in one piece and was in excellent condition. And for those interested the two bottles under cork in this flight had aged more than the two under screwcap which appeared fresher. No real surprise there. Anyway, back to the wine at hand. Deep red in colour, nose was slightly muted compared to the previous vintage but did give off some eucalyptus and vanilla. Medium bodied, with a medium slightly tannic/acidic finish. It was noted by a few in the group that there was a noticeable mid palate hole present, with one observer describing it as a “hit and run” wine. Not sure if the wine is just in a phase and will round out later in life but based on this bottle it just doesn’t have the stuffing to improve.

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• 2010 St Hugo Cabernet Sauvignon Coonawarra

  Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra

  Another vintage strangely under cork which came out in one piece and was in excellent condition. Dark purple in colour, aromas of eucalyptus/mint and olive. Palate continues the same theme with nice length. A well balance wine but for me was expecting a bit more from this vintage. To be honest has probably just hit its drinking window so could improve with a few more years under its belt. It’s a wine you would be happy to drink any day of the week if it was offered to you, but there is nothing extra special about it. It’s a blue-collar wine … honest and hard-working.

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• 2012 St Hugo Cabernet Sauvignon Coonawarra

  Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra

  Back to screwcap. Inky red in colour. Nice nose of blackcurrant/plum with a minty, savoury undertone. Palate is medium bodied, well fruited with a smooth medium/long finish. I wrote “nice wine” and left it at that. Not sure if it was getting to that point of the night where taking notes became a secondary thought or if the wine just wasn’t as interesting as some of the ones before it. Probably a bit of both!

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• 2014 St Hugo Cabernet Sauvignon Coonawarra

  Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra

  Screwcap. Like the 2012 my notes on the night were a bit sparse. Nose displayed vanilla oak and mint. This was medium/full-bodied and wasn’t too dissimilar to the 2012 … maybe a bit more oak. One taster thought this maybe suffering from the infamous cabernet hole … which was a fair point. To be honest this flight, including this wine, was the least interesting for me … as unlike the two flights prior where vintage variations were quite evident between each wine, the three vintages tasted so far in this flight were quite similar. In fact, you could have been mistaken that you were tasting the same wine in three different glasses. It may have been due to the age/youngness of the wines or a stylistic change in the wine making … who knows? But for me these wines were the least interesting, least complex of the line up so far and a bit of a disappointment. It felt like “paint by numbers” wine making which maybe a bit harsh. But time will tell.

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• 2014 Lake's Folly Cabernets

  Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley

  Under cork which came out in one piece and was in excellent condition. This was a ring in and was served blind to the group. It was primarily introduced for those who think “nothing good comes out of the Hunter!”. It was obvious on first tasting this was very different to everything we have tasted so far. In fact, one observer early on said they got dirty socks on the nose … whose socks I wonder? Anyway, the colour was dark red … but definitely not as deep as the St Hugo’s we have been tasting. Very fragrant nose with lots of spice, leather and red/black fruit. Very elegant palate compared to the St Hugo, pristine fruit with lovely acidity finishing long and soft with a splash of tannin. Lovely wine and finally something in this flight worth sitting up for and taking notice of. A few in the group thought Margaret River … specifically Mosswood … until one observer shouted with confidence slamming his fist on the table “2014 LAKES FOLLY CABERNET”. Boom! Correct answer. Well done Mooie! A few placed this in their top 3 wines of the night.

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• 2016 St Hugo Cabernet Sauvignon Coonawarra

  Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra

  Screwcap. Final wine of the flight and also the night. The youngest wine of the night and obviously we were drinking this way too young but good to find out how this was travelling. Deep and dark in colour, nose was rich displaying currant and mint. Wow this has power, it’s big and young. One drinker said it has “guts” and I tend to agree. It’s well balanced, juicy and smooth with a long finish of drying tannins. Its good but just needs time. This could develop into something special under the right cellaring conditions, but you may need to have plenty of patience for it to come together. Closest vintage in this tasting to the 2008 in my opinion but obviously way younger. One of the group picked this as their wine of the night … which in 20 years’ time could be mine as well!

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A great tasting which really shows that Coonawarra Cabernet really needs at least 20 years before it starts showing its best and that great vintages like the 1996, 1998 & 2008 can stand up to the best the world can offer.