Wynns Coonawarra Estate Shiraz 1997

Wynns Coonawarra Estate was founded in 1951 by Samuel Wynn and Sons. It is situated on part of the original Riddoch vineyards and the historic winery, built by John Riddoch in 1891, is immortalized on the Wynns Coonawarra Estate label. The region's unique "terra rossa" soil makes Coonawarra one of the outstanding wine regions in the world. Today, Wynns Coonawarra Estate is the region's pre-eminent wine producer and largest single vineyard holder with the best vineyard sites in Coonawarra.

Winemaker Sue Hodder grew up in the "red center" – Australia's outback. The red soil of Coonawarra is now her home. After graduating from Roseworthy Agricultural College in 1984, Sue started in the viticultural side of the wine industry as a Grower Liaison Officer. Making detailed assessments of vines through the year, tasting and analyzing maturing fruit and following up on the resulting wines gave Sue an appreciation of the importance of the vineyard in quality wine production. Sue then made what she considers to be a logical step into winemaking. She started at Wynns Coonawarra Estate in 1993, fell in love with the winemaking region and has remained. In 1998, she became Chief Winemaker.