Riddoch Coonawarra The Representative Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot 2022

66% Cabernet, 33% Merlot. Savoury and very ripe red fruits with some dried herb and aniseed flower perfume. Sundried tomato, ripe strawberry, red salted plum, and oodles of compressed black berry spice. Blackberry laced with licorice strap and tarry pools. Cedar oak is upfront on the palate and cloaks the mouth, swiftly followed by a brush of dried herbs. Fruit is lacking a little on the palate, and the varnishy oak is the major force building to a menthol lift on the rather bitter finish of plum skin and seedy tannins. There’s a nice little whoosh of fruit pushed by some subtle acidity before the aforementioned kicks into play.