Riddoch Coonawarra The Federator Cabernet Sauvignon 2022
- 95
- $99
- Drink by: 2025-2034
Share
As well-structured and compelling as Cabernet Sauvignon off Coonawarra terra rossa soils can be. And there’s a sweet surprise in store, too, with a small parcel of co-fermented Cabernet, Merlot and Cabernet Franc included, bringing a subtle lift of aromatics. This is a Coonawarra Cabernet that lets the fruit sing with a lovely intensity of aromas in black fruits, cassis, forest berries, toasted spices, blackstrap liquorice, Aussie bush and wild mint with cedar. It doesn’t live large or loud, rather it speaks of the land, the soil and the kind of natural balance that terra rossa can bring combined with a multi-layered palate. It’s a strong, insistent flavour, medium-bodied, nicely concentrated, enlivened by spices and crushed herbs led by rosemary, earth, tobacco leaf and vanilla. Tannins are firm, a touch savoury and well pronounced. A wonderful wine and yet another Coonawarra premium wine dedicated to the region’s famous founder, John Riddoch.
Jeni Port is one of Australia’s top wine communicators. Based in Melbourne, Jeni created the first wine column in the (then) Sun News-Pictorial before moving over to The Age and becoming that paper’s longest-serving wine writer. Over the years she has written for most Australian wine magazines and these days calls WinePilot home. She is also a Tasting Panel member on the Halliday Wine Companion. She was named Wine Communicator of the Year and Legend of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival in 2014 and in 2018 Legend of the Vine. She is a founding board member of Australian Women In Wine and is the co-deputy chair of Australia’s Wine List of the Year Awards and China’s Wine List of the Year Awards.
