Jeni Port
95 Points – Drink 2021 – 2031

V & A Lane cabernet shiraz is warming to its task a lot faster than its shiraz sibling. Are we to take it that it’s the cabernet fulfilling its role and a little more?

Cabernet certainly is taking the lead here in more ways than one. The grape represents 58% of the blend and was co-fermented with its partner which might explain the warm relationship enjoyed which allows cabernet to roam a little further out, exploring and taking as its own some lovely and more immediate fruit territory. Blackcurrant, vanilla, leafy herbals, earth, leather combine. That shiraz tannin back beat so evident in the V & A Lane shiraz then comes into play, not loudly but the accent is there directing a firm tannic structure.

Tony Love
94 Points

This wine is sourced from vineyards along V & A Lane , the cabernet having gone into many of Wynns’ top wines over the years while the shiraz is proven by the quality of its sibling varietal iteration. Together they strike up a close bond that is almost secretive in the glass and needs teasing out with time and patience. The blend is synergistic rather than being a twosome, mint notes typical of the region adding their own sheen to the wine’s personality. Give this time, in a decanter now or the cellar for 5-10 years and more.

Angus Hughson
93 Points – Drink 2025 – 2035

Wynns have a long history with the classic Australian red blend, with the V & A Lane range now their home for it. The vineyards lie close to the centre of the Coonawarra cigar and are often some of the first to ripen, which in turn creates richer, modern regional styles.

The class of cabernet from 2019 is again on display here where it has been well matched to savoury shiraz. Deeply coloured, the wine shows the varieties in equal measure – cassis and garden mint as well as mulberry, meat and cloves with sweet oak in the background. It’s poised and precise. What follows is a mouthfilling palate – fleshy dark fruits with some restraint underpinned by fresh acidity plus long, fine tannins. There is an underlying elegance that defines this wine and sets it up well for the cellar.

Ken Gargett
93 Points –

Wynn’s have been offering wines in this ‘claret’ style, if a cab shiraz blend can be called a ‘claret style’, since the mid fifties. These days, both varieties are harvested on the same day and then co-fermented. The blend this vintage, is 58% cabernet and 42% shiraz. The wine then spends 14 months in a mix of new (30%) and seasoned French oak puncheons. Deep purple, this is quite different to the straight shiraz. Soft, gentle and with lifted aromatics. Flavours reminiscent of blackcurrant jelly, cloves, blackberries and chocolate. The impact of the oak, at this stage, is a little less than with the V&A Shiraz. The palate is seamless, very finely balanced and with decent length. It offers a hint of mint and black cherry notes; lifted and delicious with a choc-cherry finish.