Medium deep crimson. Fragrant blackcurrant mulberry herb garden aromas with underlying roasted chestnut/ vanilla notes. An inky textured sinuous wine with pure blackcurrant mulberry fruits, plentiful fine loose-knit chalky textures, lovely mid palate richness and underlying savoury roasted nut notes. Builds up torque at the finish with al-dente firm tannin grip, persistent dark fruits and attractive mineral length. A classical style Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon showing the elegance, generosity and power derived from a rare long growing season. Now-2030 96 points

Note: I really like this wine because it has an underlying leafy cabernet character that gives the wine beautiful aromatic complexity and vigour. This has been the reference wine for Coonawarra for 60 years. Like a barometer it tells the story of Coonawarra’s growing season with great accuracy!

— Andrew Caillard, Master of Wine

Deep crimson. Lovely pure blackcurrant elderberry herb garden aromas with hints of espresso/ roasted chestnut notes. Beautiful concentrated wine with blackcurrant elderberry chinotto herb flavours, fine-grained and plentiful yet vigorous tannins, superb mid palate richness and integrated roasted chestnut/ cedar oak notes. Finishes chalky firm with a long inky/ graphite plume. Made for the long haul. Powerfully expressive yet unforced wine with superb vinosity, richness, density and volume. Superb. The fruit derives from the V&A (Victoria & Albert) and Nursery Vineyards, both located on classic terra-rossa soils. From a dry, mild to warm growing season. Wait a few years to let it unfold, 2025-2050 100 points

Note: This is a really impressive multi-layered wine with exquisite fruit, generosity and balance. It will build more volume and complexity with time, As a Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon, this is the region’s zenith. A First Growth and the first among the few equals. A great year for John Riddoch reflecting the remarkable progress in vineyards and a great growing season.

— Andrew Caillard, Master of Wine

Medium deep crimson. Expressive claret style with mulberry, red plum, cassis, mocha aromas and vanilla oak notes. Well concentrated wine with mulberry, red plum, blackcurrant fruits, fine grainy/ cedary tannins, underlying mocha, vanilla oak and developed tobacco, espresso characters. Finishes firm and tight. A touch of bottle age gives the wine attractive fruit complexity and suppleness. From an historic Coonawarra vineyard. Now-2030 94 points

Note: This is a single vineyard wine. Against the 2017 it shows more development. It’s overall varietal blend is relatable to the claret wines of the Medoc. The style is more open-knit and elegant tending towards being slinky textured.

— Andrew Caillard, Master of Wine

Deep crimson. Intense blackberry pastille, violet aromas with underlying bramble, spicy notes. Richly concentrated wine with deep set inky, blackberry, blackcurrant fruits, persistent fine loose knit chocolaty, ground coffee textures and underlying savoury vanilla cedar nuances. Finishes graphite firm with long fine chocolaty plume. Generous and supple with lovely density, richness and vigour. Should develop extremely well, Keep and cellar. 2024-2040 97 points

Note: The 1955 Michael Shiraz was named after David Wynn’s son Michael who died at child-birth. It was regarded as a freak wine and contributed to the growing reputation of Coonawarra. The 2016 is an outstanding example of Coonawarra Shiraz which accounted for 2/3rds of plantings in the early 20th Century. Since the 1960s, cabernet sauvignon has become the more successful variety. This firm, black-fruited style is very different to Barossa or McLaren Vale Shirazes with more refines claret-like lines.

— Andrew Caillard, Master of Wine