This Coonawarra icon has delivered its fair share of stunners as well as a few disappointments along the way, but here the secret lies in the fact this, like so many good Bordeaux’s, from a good vintage, is a minimum twenty-year-wine. And twenty is when I like to start drinking them! Keep this in mind if you see any floating around the traps but do your utmost (as I did in this case) to ensure the wine has been well stored.

Harbours a mature deep brick red colour with ample brown to the meniscus. The bouquet reeks of mature Cabernet - sandalwood, lead pencil, old books, cigar box, cedar and “Coonawarra mint” (not really mint as in the purest herbal sense but a rare regional blend comprising of a blend of eucalypt and peppermint with a sneaky herby/weedy tweak) with some very decent blackcurrant undertones that provide a fascinating counterbalance for everything sitting atop. The palate steps up a notch or two in that it tastes younger and fresher with abundant acidity providing spark and lift, wonderful purity of Cabernet flavour with a robust French oak backing, some seriously firm grippy tannins and an interminably long, wonderfully good finish. I’d rate this around 91 just at the minute and when the tannin softens in several years could render a slightly higher call. The 12.3 A/V is an absolute godsend for me. Long live the wines that need time to get better and better!

Wynns has always held a special place in my life of wine. For it was the 1976 “Black Label” Wynns Coonawarra Cabernet that I cut my teeth on in 1983, giving me the impetus to start my twenty-five year association with most things vinous.

Wynns make two flagship reds - their Cabernet Sauvignon - the John Riddoch, and a Shiraz - the Michael. And 1991 was an exceptional year in Coonawarra with many a heralded scribe now giving this particular year more accolades than the massively hyped (but perhaps a little more forward and riper) 1990 vintage. Over the last several years some bottles of the 1991 Riddoch I’ve tried have been utterly sublime, some a little unready, but never one anything like the bottle reviewed below. Previous bottles of the Michael from the same year had never overly impressed. In more recent years I’ve much preferred the 1990 version of this label, the inaugural re-release of the label commemorating the brilliant and quite freakish 1955 Wynns Michael Hermitage (100% Coonawarra Shiraz) - a wine, with proper provenance, still drinks incredibly well today.

So what went wrong here?

Both wines were sourced at release by the owner (a long standing and very good friend) and have been stored in what I can only describe as a relatively good “passive” cellar over the last decade or so. Seeing I know this person (and his wine inventory) very well, we have opened and shared glorious bottles from his Australian red wine collection dating as far back to the seventies and eighties with very few problems with oxidation, heat damage, senility or the like. Both wines were decanted and served double blind and drunk from Riedel Bordeaux and Shiraz glassware at about 16 degrees celcius ambient temperature on a fine, cool Autumn day.

Wynns John Riddoch Cabernet Sauvignon 1991 - Mature hue. Planky, volatile nose with a distinct “aged” green bean character over weak greenish fruit. Big, lumpy, varnishy oak-dominant palate over tired, fading green herbaceous fruit followed by a rather rough, soulless, hard tannic finish. Barely drinkable! 70 points. Could only think (after the wine was revealed) this was an errant bottle.

Wynns Michael Shiraz 1991 - Drunk immediately after the previous wine, this fared a little better but, unfortunately, shared several of the previos wine’s trait/faults. Colour a tad more youthful but definitely mostly brick red; fruit a little fresher and sweeter but veering to the cooked plum/pruny spectrum. Palate not so bad with jammy/pruny fruit behind a wall of high-octane/dill-infused oak; in better balance than the Riddoch, but overall a big clumsy over-extracted red revealing only a little varietal or regional character. 82 points and going nowhere in my book. My friend began asking me the usual questions/options to those of the Riddoch and the first question was grape variety …. Cabernet/Shiraz? ….. I answered “Shiraz and it’s the ‘91 Michael”.

So it’s difficult to say what caused the poor showing of the 1991 John Riddoch. Perhaps the wine was just old and tired. The Michael - pretty well as I remember it from a few years back, only worse. Whatever the problem/s, the only positive I can muster is I own not a bottle of either!

I’ve always regarded 1988 an extremely good year for many Coonawarra producers. This wine, somewhat remarkably, continues to hang in there, exhibiting a terrific melange of mature cooler-climate Cabernet characters, akin to an excellent effort from Bordeaux (but in the older, more austere classic style). Very mature brick red hue; beautifully developed, classic Coonawarra nose and palate of weedy blackcurrants, cedar and sweet earth with added complexity from notes of old saddle leather, cigar box, soft licks of menthol and fallen autumn leaves; all seamlessly meshed with not a hair out of place. A smooth, polished, perfectly poised and integrated Coonawarra Cabernet revealing wonderful delineation, a decidedly cuddly personality, marvellous balance and stupendous length. 93 points

I’ve sat on my remaininder of these for many years now and, for my fiftieth recently, had pulled one from the cellar to have at the ready for the big week of partying. Didn’t get a chance to open one then, so I’m gradually getting through them now.

Deep ruby colour, very little bricking. Powerful oak-infused nose of mainly tar, dill and miso that relented to earthy red and black fruit with notes of old leather, bitter chocolate and a touch of cigar box. The palate’s an instant replay of what’s found in the nose, quite fleshy in the mouth although I found the US oak input quite distracting. There’s sufficient body, acid, tannin and length for this to last several years, but overall, I’m not all that fussed on where this bottle is headed. A big bruiser of a wine that offers little charm or refinement. 86 points.

Walked into Woolies after work, bought a few groceries, badly in need of a refreshing cold ale and, goddamit, this wine’s staring me in the face for $15.98 by the six pack! Just had to buy one, take it home, give it a good breathe and post a TN.

Dark ruby/purple. Excellent varietal/regional nose of weedy, herb-tinged blackcurrants, freshly turned earth, cedar, a little mint and that indelible mix of older US and French oak that has worked so well with this label over many years. Medium-bodied palate offering a smooth, velvety entry harnassing plenty of ripe blackcurrant/plummy fruit, a touch of black olive, subservient savoury/cedary oak input, beautifully judged acidty, ripe, marginally chalky, firmish tannins, terrific length and an expansive, authoritative finish that, collectively, achieves an Outstanding rating.

This is a perfectly balanced, high quality Coonawarra Cabernet with an excellent medium- to long-term cellaring potential that’s drinking pretty darn well right now. Crystal-balling the mind-set of the winemaker, Sue Hodder, and the reported “corporate goal” of re-establishing this label to former glories, I suspect this Black Label is well and truly back on the “desired track” and worthy of a place in any serious wine lover’s cellar. 92 points. Drink 2010-2018+. Fantastic QPR! 13.5% A/V

Holding a very deep ruby with only a touch of brick in the edge. Quintessential minty Coonawarra Cabernet bouquet of weedy blakcurrants, spicy/cedary/savoury oak, freshly turned sod, fresh sweet corn, some leafiness and a hint of lift at the death. The medium-weight palate continues the high standard with gorgeous flavours of dusty blackcurrants, complimentary savoury oak, some menthol/mint regional character, lively acidity and some grainy, firmish tannin. Seemingly needs more time to fully mesh and soften. Excellent resolute finish with much promise for the long haul. Amazing wine for what it is. 92 points. Drink now-2016 13.5% A/V

Drunk the remainder of the bottle 24 hours later with the firm tannins/finish smoothing out beautifully. Not a sign of oxidation either. Super wine!