Stonehaven Limited Vineyard Release Cabernet Sauvignon 2021

Padthaway-based brand, Stonehaven, is back. What was once owned by Constellation Wines is now under the guidance of family wine company, CW Wines. Solid releases such as this reserve Cabernet Sauvignon are a good sign for a bright future. What an inviting wine, youthful, punchy and fresh. It’s well defined, too. Couldn’t be anything other than Coonawarra Cabernet fruit hitting the tongue in blackberry-blueberry intensity, dried fruits, spice and those zingy herbals – oregano, thyme, a splash of cardamon – are delicious. The winemaker hasn’t pushed, hasn’t over-packed it with winemaking paraphernalia but rather allowed the fruit its head. Hence, oak is part of the seams that bind but no more. That approach is rewarded in a convincing, well-grounded Coonawarra Cabernet. There’s a lot to like here.