The Coonawarra wine region is an approx. 4 hour drive from Adelaide. It was founded by John Riddoch in the 1800s and today is Australia’s leading Cabernet Sauvignon region, making world renowned wines.
Coonawarra is in the heart of South Australia’s Limestone Coast, the largest outcrop in the world. The area is likely to become increasingly important for viticulture as it is a cooler and wetter region. It is famed for its Terra Rossa soils (Italian for red soil) which run along a cigar-shaped strip less than 30km long. It is a type of red clay produced by the weathering of limestone over many thousands of years and coloured by iron oxide. It’s free draining yet complemented by the water holding capacity of limestone. This unique soil influences vine vigour, ripeness and the flavours of the wine (Coonawarra, 2021).
The typical characteristics of the wines here include cassis, mint, eucalyptus (lots of gum trees around!) and the all important minerality from the limestone soils.
“Imagine a red wine that has the savoury elegance and structure of Europe yet the fruit purity, ripeness and concentration of Australia. That is Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon”
Coonawarra, 2021
There are 25 cellar doors here, many of which are within walking or cycling distance. The Coonawarra Cabernet Celebrations take place throughout October, where the region hosts a series of events – with wine, food and plenty of back vintages on offer – I will certainly be making the trip next year.
Coonawarra Wine Tasting
I managed to limit myself to five wineries on this trip; despite being the week before Christmas we were often the only people in the cellar doors (thanks Covid) but this meant we had the wonderful cellar door staff all to ourselves and they certainly looked after us.
Bowen Estate
A small, family owned and operated estate. They produce three wines: chardonnay, cab sav and shiraz – keeping it simple and executing each wine superbly.
The Chardonnay is only sold at the cellar door, it is made in a Chablis style from a 1 acre plot that is handpicked and created with much care. This was delicious with fresh pear and peach flavours enhancing subtle oak characteristics. Great balance and crisp acidity. And at only $24.50 was incredible value for money.
The Shiraz was juicy with firm tannins, well-rounded and very drinkable. The 2019 vintage was a good one and I’m sure this will age well.
But the Cab was the star of the show – amazing blackcurrant, blackberries and even violet notes – the smell alone was incredible. On tasting you really got a sense of the finely intertwined tannins that are classic of the Coonawarra making the wine so soft and elegant. And again at only $27.50 this was just incredible.
They didn’t have any museum stock at the cellar door but a handy vintage guide will certainly mean I’ll be tracking these down in the future. Looking forward to trying my case again in 10 years time!
Balnaves of Coonawarra
Balnaves have a gorgeous cellar door overlooking a tranquil pond and the vineyards beyond. They also have a beautiful rose garden that you can sit and relax in. They have over 70ha of family owned and operated vineyards, everything they produce is grown onsite. In a recent review by James Halliday he noted the Balnaves wines are “invariably excellent, often outstanding; notable for their supple mouthfeel, varietal integrity, balance and length – the tannins are always fine and ripe, the oak subtle and perfectly integrated. Coonawarra at its best” (Halliday, 2022).
The wines didn’t disappoint:
- Chardonnay: round citrus with melon fruit flavours and a touch of toasted nougat. Slightly on the sweeter side for my palate but still fresh and well integrated.
- 2018 The Blend – very jammy and sweet on the nose, easy and fruity. Thought it was going to be too much cooked jam but actually much softer on the palate.
- Shiraz 2018 – cool climate helps produce more elegant and delicate styles, this was an approachable style of Shiraz. Elegant red and black mulberry fruits, lovely and soft – juicy
Then came the cabernets…which are all grown in the terra rossa soil which gives earthy characteristics to the wine.
- 2016 Cabernet merlot – this wine is made from the best cab and best merlot plots, the best fruits going into The Tally (see below) and the rest goes into this wine.
- 2017 Cabernet – this was a year affected by black frosts, therefore a Tally wasn’t made – instead this was created. I really liked this, it had a bit more to it, more muscular and punchy.
- The Tally is only made in years of excellence and is their highest achieving wine. The grapes are hand picked to select the best fruit and the wine is created with lots of love and attention. We tried the 2016 which had fantastic, rich dark fruit and good tannins – this will certainly age well.
We tried all three cabernets side-by-side to compare and contrast, it was really interesting to taste the step-up in care and attention to the wines. The Tally certainly needs some time and we walked away with a couple of bottles from early 2000s, can’t wait to crack them and see what they’re like!
Finally to cleanse the palate a Sparkling Cabernet…the only one in coonawarra (not for me but interesting to try)!
Hollick Estates
This winery was established in 1983 by the Hollick family. Today it is a boutique winery, vineyard, restaurant and cellar door which overlooks Coonawarra. We stopped here mostly to grab a bite to eat at the café in the vines (easy food for a light bite, but no where to sit indoors if it’s a hot day).
We also popped into the cellar door for a tasting which was night and day compared to our previous two visits. The wines were distinctly average and the service even more so…the only decent wine was their sticky – elderflower with a light orange marmalade finish, really delish but didn’t feel it deserved a purchase!
Parker Coonawarra Estate
Final stop was Parker Coonawarra Estate, a stunning modern cellar door with soaring ceilings, open views across the vines and back vintages to the late 80s. What was not to love!
Cab sav is their dominant variety with minor plantings of merlot and petit verdot, they had also just planted some cabernet franc in front of the cellar door – one to watch in a few years time.
The estate was founded in 1985 by John and Faye Parker who were committed to producing quality Cabernet Sauvignon. They planted their first vines using the Reynella Selection cuttings of Cabernet Sauvignon – the original cuttings from Bordeaux – sourced before Phylloxera decimated the vineyards in France in the late 1800s (pretty cool!). Today it is under the custodianship of the Hesketh family who are committed to sustaining John Parker’s vision for the estate. The winemaking team at Parker is led by Andrew Hardy who has 36 years experience making wine in Coonawarra (he worked with Brian Croser at Petaluma for nearly four decades as well as gaining experience in California, Oregon and Bordeaux).
Their flagship wine is the aptly titled ‘First Growth’, which is only produced in the best years where a particular vintage is deemed to have ageing potential beyond 15 years. We walked away with a 1989…any back vintages they’re happy to guarantee, let’s see!
Wynns Coonawarra Estate
The following day we made a quick stop at Wynns Coonawarra Estate. Originally founded by Scottish pioneer John Riddoch in the late 1890s it fell into disrepair for a number of years before its revival began in 1951 when David Wynn purchased the property. At the time tobacco was also grown on the estate which was quickly replanted with vines.
Wynns is the largest land holder in Coonawarra, is currently owned by Treasury Wine Estates and is one of the best known brands.
We fast forwarded to the Cabernet selection for our tasting. The Cellar Door exclusive “The Gables” was a surprisingly savoury cabernet, with the classic red fruit notes of the region present. One level up was the Black Label cabernet, perhaps the best known Coonawarra cab, this was a medium weight combination of smooth dark fruit and savoury undertones, with noticeably fine tannins.
The real star of the tasting (and also the trip) was the single vineyard 2018 Johnson’s Block cabernet. One single vineyard wine is produced each year and this is only the second time the Johnsons Block has been made. This was noticeably more fruit forward while maintaining a savoury edge, however it was a much more subtle and complex on the palate, again with soft tannins which should age well – more Bordeaux like than anything else tried on the trip.
Everyone in this region was so welcoming, knowledgeable and friendly plus they were full of recommendations of each other and local things to do – always a good sign in my books. We could easily have stayed for a week.
We stayed overnight at the Alexander Cameron Suites Motel in Penola which I would also definitely recommend – clean, comfy bed and the motel owner was wonderful – even gave us a lift up to a our first vineyard.
I am a massive Cab lover and the Coonawarra really wowed me, it might be a little off the beaten track (to say the least) but it is well, well worth it once you’re there. I will certainly be back next October for the Coonawarra Cab Fest!