COONAWARRA, SA

If Margaret River is the newcomer on the Australian cabernet scene, then Coonawarra is where it all began. It was 1891 when Scottish-born John Riddoch planted the first vines as a settler in the region and since then, the 20km-long strip of terra rossa dirt has been the birthplace of some of Australia’s most iconic cabernets. They are instantly recognisable – aromas of eucalypt and mint on the nose give the wines a distinctly herbal vibe, especially when paired with their characteristic savoury black fruit. The tannins are also distinctive, tending to feel more gravel-like and textured, assertive and structured than those of Margaret River. One of the most highly regarded estates in the area, Wynns Coonawarra Estate, is responsible for some of the longest lived and finely detailed cabernets. Their best is surely the flagship, John Riddoch ($150), which is consistently structured, ripe, rich, complex and long, not to mention long-lived.

Back in WA, you need to drive almost 2.5 hours east of Margaret River to reach Frankland River. This subregion of the Great Southern is so dramatically vast that it is worth the trip just to see the landscape and feel the difference in the air. This is an area of expansive vistas, gum trees, red dirt and wide-open space, and in experiencing that, it becomes clear how the cabernets from this area taste as they do. With warm/hot days in summer, and cool/cold nights, the cabernets from Frankland are structured, resplendent with black fruits and carry a spicy capsule of tannin and acidity that serve to catapult the midnight fruit over the palate.

Quintessential Diana Madeline in a great year: elegant and powerful, with mulberry, plum, cassis, cherry, rose, violets, dark chocolate and ironstone, plus great length and fine tannins.

The medium body and aromatics, together with the bitter chocolate, mean this is cabernet sauvignon at its best. It’s a great food match for beetroot risotto as a young wine, and aged parmesan as an aged wine.

The merlot adds middle palate, cabernet franc adds perfume and malbec adds power.

This wine comes from our family vineyard, overlooking the Finniss River wetlands on the Fleurieu Peninsula. This vineyard is cooled by the Great Southern Ocean and Lake Alexandrina, where low rainfall and deep alluvial soils encourage black fruits and savoury tannins for an elegant yet structured cabernet.

Besides food, this cabernet needs aeration, so double-decant it. Unless you cellar this for the next five years – as with the best cabernet wines – drink this now with a good butcher’s sausage. Tannins with pork fat, find your bliss.

The nuances and strengths of Margaret River’s maritime climate. The cabernet vine requires a long and gentle growing season to fully ripen its tannins and capture high-level fragrances. This privilege is provided by our climate.

The Rebus loves socialising with slow- cooked proteins and rich cheeses.

The 2016 Rebus is 91% cabernet sauvignon, which is the main act, with a 7% feathering of fleshy and sculpting malbec, and a 2% polishing from Satsuma-like merlot, all from Wilyabrup, the red heart of Margaret River.

This wine is a blend of Coonawarra and Barossa Valley varietals that are fermented and matured separately in new French oak hogsheads, then careful barrel selection results in a wine that is vibrant in its youth, but will evolve over 20-plus years.

It’s great with dishes such as brisket, pulled pork and sticky ribs, plus aged cloth cheddar and blue cheese.

It is 60% Coonawarra cabernet sauvignon, and 20% each of estate-grown Barossa cabernet franc and merlot. The cabernet provides structure and a framework for the rich, fleshy merlot and aromatic cabernet franc.

Harvested in the cool of the early morning to preserve fruit structure, the maritime climate of our vineyard and extended time on skins pre- and post-ferment allow gentle extraction to develop lovely varietal aromatics and firm, silky tannins.

This is a classic, robust cabernet and matches well to full-flavoured foods. I’m a sucker for a slow-roasted lamb shoulder or a sharp, crumbly cheddar.

We top the cabernet sauvignon barrels with some petit verdot, which adds lovely colour, and cabernet franc, adding beautiful violet perfume and richness to the palate.

Grown on famed Coonawarra terra rossa soil with hand-crop manipulation, this world-class cabernet received gentle oak vat fermentation, maturation in new French hogsheads then further bottle ageing to make it enjoyable on release and into the next decade.

Stylistically, when this elegant, flavoursome cabernet sauvignon is served at around 18˚C, it is perfect with spring lamb, spanakopita, risotto or an aubergine lasagne. With a few more years of development, more rustic complexity will enhance a rare wagyu eye fillet or aged cheddar.

This is our finest expression of single- vineyard cabernet, made to showcase the region’s ageing potential, which is why we release it at seven to eight years of age. The style is about building complexity to layer secondary flavours, such as leather and tobacco, on top of concentrated fruit characters including cassis and blackberry.

Over cheese at the end of the night as you can taste it over a long period and watch it change and evolve in the glass. Make sure it’s quality cheese, though – my personal recommendation is brillat savarin by Will Studd. Alternatively, a quality wagyu beef steak works brilliantly too.

A single-vineyard wine, this cabernet sauvignon aims to capture the character of the site and the season. Our site is perfectly suited to this variety, with a warm northerly aspect and a gentle slope at 200m altitude, on 500 million-year-old duplex clays with ironstone shots throughout. This ensures intense small berries, maximum flavour ripeness, and soft supple tannins.

It is an ideal match with locally farmed spring lamb and rosemary, with salted roast kipflers. This wine will age gracefully for up to 20 years.

Selection of fruit parcels is key to this wine. It’s all about finding the beautiful, elegant fruit aromatics combined with tannins that are the right balance of structure, finesse, and length. Combine that with balanced French oak maturation and it’s essential Coonawarra.

Given it’s still a rather young wine, this wine can handle a fair bit at this stage of its life. The best approach, in my opinion, would be a spicy curry, with all the accompaniments, served to a group of close friends.

The beauty of blending two or more varieties is that each brings a mix of flavours that become juxtaposed with the other within the blend. This wine is a blend of 62% cabernet sauvignon, which brings wonderful mint and dark berry fruits to the party, and 38% shiraz, adding spice, red berry fruits and savoury notes.

Given this wine is bursting with flavour, yet presents as a mid-weight elegant style, it pairs beautifully with spicy Italian dishes, such as osso buco, and the more traditional roast lamb or roast beef with Yorkshire pudding.

A classically structured cabernet sauvignon, but with textures and complexity from the touriga. The mid- palate softness and fine gravelly tannin finish are the highlight for me.

This is the perfect food wine – textural, with great length of flavour. It is an engaging wine that works perfectly with red meat dishes such as rib eye with rice and black mushrooms, or duck cassoulet.

The touriga (30%) adds engaging black fruit and spice notes, mid-palate presence and lovely fine tannins – the perfect overlay to that classic cabernet structure.

Our approach is to let the season and site drive the wine style. The 2018 vintage was ideal in Coonawarra, and we aimed to craft some beautiful cabernet grapes into a classically structured wine that expresses balance and harmony – to drink now or to age gracefully.

Katnook Estate Cabernet tends to have the acidity and tannins to cut through savoury dishes. Enjoy with rosemary braised lamb shanks or a chargrilled porterhouse with chimichurri sauce.