NobleRottersSydney - Stephen's Wynns Cabernet vertical: 86, 90-00

The Noble Rotters gather in Sydney for the November 2003 dinner. A Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon vertical is on the cards. Wines were not decanted. Drinking from oldest to youngest in brackets of 3, the wines are (alcohol % in brackets)

• 1986 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon

  Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra

  (12.9%) Brick red, with a little fading at the edges. Lots of cigar box and pencil shaving aromas – very much secondary characters to the fore here. There are some herby eucalypt fruit notes remaining, but this is essentially a mature experience. It’s still wonderfully alive – the fruit and tannins very soft, acid still plentiful. Its medium bodied, wonderfully drinkable, and grows almost sweet in the glass. Unlikely to improve, but great drinking now.

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• 1990 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon

  Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra

  (14.0%) This is a much darker red – hard to believe its 13 years old. Clean prune & blackcurrant fruit, some light vanilla oak on the nose. Plenty of spicy, yet smooth & powerful tannins on the palate. The fruit is rich and full with much less development than 86. This is lovely, but needs years yet to reach its optimum, I feel. In context, it’s almost brutal in its power. Carries 14.0% alcohol with narry a shudder.

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• 1991 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon

  Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra

  (13.5%) Another deep red wine, though less dark than 90. The aromas are similar, but a bit more rounded and integrated. The fruit is the same clean Coonawarra blackcurrant, but it’s more subtle somehow. The palate is almost polished, with a more elegant balance of primary fruits and development than its older brother. – treading a fine aging line. I find this slightly more pleasurable than the 90 at the moment – but the 90 will live longer, and should perhaps surpass this wine? Power or elegance emphasized – that’s the difference between these two. Remarkable drinking for wines that were barely $10 when released…

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• 1992 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon

  Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra

  (13.5%) A quite bright red, this has some bricking at the edge. The nose is almost a little sweet, with blackcurrant candy aromas. It’s somewhat astringent on the palate – evenly so, but the finish fades quickly. Acidity is fair, but this feels like much work has been done in the winery to compensate for weaker fruit. It’s a perfectly acceptable wine, but falls well short of the standards established by 90 & 91.

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• 1993 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon

  Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra

  (13.5%) Dark red. The fruit is a bit more generous than 92 but cloves and gentle oak stand out on the nose. It has a medium weight palate, although lacks the complexity of the first bracket wines. The finish is somewhat astringent perhaps, and although this is in no way a deficient wine, I can’t see any improvement left. Drink now, or hold without expectation!

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• 1994 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon

  Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra

  (13.5%) Deep red – no bricking here. This is a bit closed in some ways, presenting a monolithic nose of mint and vanilla – as though the American oak was dominating in the winery. There’s some sourness of fruit – which is more pronounced than the last 2 wines. It’s endearing somehow, and gets a little better sitting in the glass. It’s relatively big and brutal – could be a less successful version of the 90. Hard to call for me - will it look more like 93 with time or gain richness? A sleeper?

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• 1995 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon

  Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra

  (12.5%) Crimson red, but the colour didn’t glow like its contemporaries. The fruit has a simplistic, candied quality to it. Rather one-dimensional on the palate – relatively astringent, fruit reticent, with a phenolic, hard-pressed, macerated quality to it. This isn’t going anywhere, and is the least of the wines so far. Drink up.

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• 1996 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon

  Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra

  (13.0%) Deep black-red. The wine is a bit closed at first. It eventually opens with rich ripe blackcurrant fruit over underlying subtle spicy oak. Lots of aroma layers here. The palate, too, is restrained, but eventually builds, with plenty of ultra-fine tannins, but it’s still reluctant to open up and sing. A bit quiet, but has all the hallmarks of a great wine, given a little time. Patience. Elements of 90 & 91 here. One to keep.

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• 1997 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon

  Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra

  (13.5%) Deep red. A diffuse, blurry nose (or is it me?). Much less focused than the 96, this reminds me most of the 92 in some ways. Not a great deal of interest here.

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• 1998 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon

  Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra

  (13.5%) Dark, dark red. Intense black & red fruit, powerful toasty vanillan oak, and yet there’s still some authentic cabernet herbaceousness here as well. There is tremendous depth of aroma. This is an imposing, balanced, yet still unintegrated wine. Iron tannins, fine-cut acid and ripe fruit all attack in uncoordinated fashion. I think this will be a great wine, but I find little pleasure in it at this early stage – it needs about 10 more years. Only drink now if you’re a young-wine junkie…

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• 1999 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Flawed

  Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra

  (13.5%) Deep crimson red, but sadly corked. Under the TCA there’s a hint of decent fruit aroma remaining, but the palate is utterly stripped, and remains an astringent shell.

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• 2000 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon

  Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra

  (13.5%) Surprisingly simple nose of cherry-sweet strawberries. Totally different to the previous wines. Still tannic on the palate, but otherwise quite light, with a desperately short finish. Not faulty that I can see, but vies with the 95 as the clunker of the night.

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• 2001 Miranda Sémillon Golden Botrytis

  Australia, New South Wales, Big Rivers, Riverina

  Golden yellow. A low acid, sharply botrytis-flavoured wine. A bit simple in its confected presentation of apricot fruit. One glass is enough, and I don’t think this is for keeping.

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The consistency of the Wynns is remarkable. Even the least of the vintages (92, 95) are respectable drinking after a few years, and the great vintages (86,90,91,96 and maybe 94?) represent enviable value for their modest cost. The back label, which changes very little from year to year, claims both new and used US and French oak is used – it may be that this flexibility the winemakers have, together with the large Coonawarra resources they can access, enables them to achieve such continuity of style. Even in 1998, the urge to let the alcohol levels rise has been resisted. It’s almost as though the black label wine is intended to vary as little as possible, while John Riddoch sees the full orchestra treatment.

I think a lot of this wine is drunk too early. By themselves, the 96 & 98 are very impressive, but only by tasting them alongside 90 & 91 does their great potential become obvious. For a $25 wine these days, it’s a terrific buy (2000 excepted!).