Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
A magical union of opulent, juicy blackberry wrapped discretely in a regal oak robe. Captured at optimal ripeness, the fruit notes remain bright and vital, and especially soft tannins carry the long flavours gracefully, with just the right amount of bite and grip. Winemaker Sue Hodder says this was an easy vintage to make good wine, such was the quality of fruit picked; she has captured its best attributes perfectly.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
In a lineup of nine wines, this 2010 John Riddoch absolutely, without reservation, stole the show. Apart from being in a sublime place right now (i.e., 2022), the 2010 emerged just as the year that birthed it: very measured and even. In the mouth, the tannins are very finely knit, woven together seamlessly. It has silken flow and texture; the fruit speaks of spiced raspberry, pomegranate, iodine and ferrous, a skein of red apple skins and pink peppercorn. This is utterly beautiful, verging on majestic. It is quite possibly the greatest John Riddoch ever made. In terms of a drinking window... nowhere near its peak. Rating: 98+
A noble variety bestowed with both power and concentration, Cabernet Sauvignon enjoys success all over the globe, its best examples showing potential to age beautifully for decades. Cabernet Sauvignon flourishes in Bordeaux's Medoc where it is often blended with Merlot and smaller amounts of some combination of Cabernet Franc, Malbecand Petit Verdot. In the Napa Valley, ‘Cab’ is responsible for some of the world’s most prestigious, age-worthy and sought-after “cult” wines. Somm Secret—DNA profiling in 1997 revealed that Cabernet Sauvignon was born from a spontaneous crossing of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc in 17th century southwest France.
Distinguished by a thin, subterranean band of crumbled, red clay loam, Coonawarra is a fairly flat, otherwise unobtrusive region with a cool Mediterranean climate, actually not dissimilar to Bordeaux.
In Coonawarra, this unique layer of red clay is called, "terra rossa" and gets its color from iron oxide. The terra rossa soil overlies soft, penetrable limestone, in a continuous area that is part of the Limestone Coast zone of South Australia. This uncommon layering of soils creates a substrate that is both well draining and at the same time, offers good water retention to support vine roots through dry summers.
Not surprisingly, Coonawara experiences great success with the Bordeaux varieties, namely Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, but also Shiraz. However Cabernet reigns superior and accounts for half of the Coonawarra harvest each year. Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon develops powerful, yet polished tannins, ripe, red berry fruit and often sweet herb or dried mint qualities. The region has an increased focus on the individual expressions of single vineyards.