Leconfield DGR Cabernet Shiraz 2023
- 94
- $70
- Drink by: 2026-2041
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Rather nice when the winery does all the work for you. DGR stands for ‘damn good red’ and they have pretty much summed things up with the name. Although it is an example of the great Australian red blend, it is very much Cabernet dominant, with a supporting dollop of Shiraz. From the Terra Rossa soil of Coonawarra, when Sydney Hamilton planted the vines back in 1974, when he was already on the wrong side of 75, it was to make an elite red wine. The winery has certainly done that over the years. Many times. Opaque blood red with a dark crimson rim, there are choc/mint notes immediately evident and the wine simply screams its Coonawarra origins. We have aromas weaving through spices, herbs, blackberries, tobacco leaves, coffee grinds, soy, aniseed and cloves. Well-structured with serious length through to very fine tannins, the finish persists. The wine is finely balanced throughout, and it will surely continue to improve over the next ten to fifteen years, while providing pleasure along the journey.
Ken was born and bred in Brisbane, Queensland. He had a non-trendy, perfectly happy childhood, in a family convinced alcohol meant instant condemnation to Hades. But a break fishing on the Great Barrier Reef, and some good wine, started a serious obsession that eventually took over. It did not stop Ken being chastised later for drinking Pol champagne, disgusted he’d drink anything made by a Cambodian dictator. Now, Ken mostly writes on wine, champagne and spirits for various newspapers, magazines and books, but is perhaps best known for his work in The Courier Mail. He also has a little sideline writing on cigars, fishing, travel and food. When not writing, fly-fishing for trout in NZ or bonefish on the flats of Cuba, travelling or smoking cigars, he is no doubt following a variety of sporting teams – the occasionally glorious Queensland Reds rugby, the dysfunctional Washington Redskins, the dodgy Arsenal and especially revels in the world restored to its proper axis with the return of the Ashes to their rightful home.
