Parker Coonawarra Estate First Growth 2016

I’ve always been enamoured with Parker’s First Growth. I’ve seen it featured on Australian’s best wine lists since I can remember. I’ve opened back vintages under magnum and been awe struck.

The 2016 release is intriguing and mysterious. It’s restrained and yet powerful, brooding and dynamic. All of the greatest cabernet sauvignon aromatics are here; blackcurrant, blood plum, graphite and leather. More interestingly there is a hint of the great Australian bush, it’s not quite Eucalypt, menthol or mint. It’s cracked, dried leaves and lemon gum at dusk. It’s a whisp of camp fire smoke and cracked red clay. It’s a wine of place and terroir. I think about the original Ngarrindjeri nation and wonder what bushland grew around these areas and about what that Terra Rossa soil has seen over the years. I think of my own experience with the Coonawarra and marvel at the future ahead of it.

It’s a wine that has a place in my past narrative and also deserves a place in the future.