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Pikes The Hill Block Cabernet Sauvignon 2021

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One of the debates that wine geeks will indulge in, late at night with a glass or two of top red, is to argue over just which is the Clare’s best variety. Well, Riesling surely, so perhaps best red variety. There is a lot of support for Shiraz, the most widely planted grape, Cabernet is second. But Cabernet has a lot of support and many believe it, at its best, exceeds Shiraz – the only way to make an informed decision is to keep drinking lots of both. The team at Pikes believe that when it is at its best, Cabernet ‘is easily the region’s best red variety’. For me, line ball stuff.

Wherever you land, this is a cracker. Opaque maroon in colour, we have aromas of plums, chocolate, truffles, fleshy notes, bergamot and coffee grinds. Still very young and it really does need time. The palate is seductive and seamless with very fine tannins and juicy acidity. I’d be putting this aside for the next three to four years and then enjoying it over the following decade, over which period it will surely continue to improve.

Ken Gargett

Contributor at Winepilot

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.

Wine writer and critic