Stonehaven Reserve Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon 2021

A wine of impact on a number of fronts. The cork and wax seal, the deep-punted heavy bottle indicate as much. As does the vintage date; 2021 was considered a top year. Then there’s the good, strong, upfront Cabernet profile, splendid in bramble, mint, briar, earth, black fruits and spice. Flows easily, evenly. Tell-tale regional terroir can’t be missed in Coonawarra choc mint, spearmint and eucalypt which, it should be noted, doesn’t dominate but is more of an adjunct, encased in fruit, spice, smart vanillin oak and a warm, textural embrace. There’s no doubting the ripeness and power of the fruit, but it is handled well. Boasts strong drink now appeal but there is also opportunity for further ageing. A plus-plus kind of wine.

Jeni Port

Wine critic at Winepilot

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.

Wine writer and critic