Ken Gargett

John Riddoch Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 + other Australian new releases – One of our most iconic wines and a world famous Cabernet. It would be most people’s choice as the pinnacle from Coonawarra, every year. First made from the 1982 vintage, early examples from top years like 1982, still drink like a dream. From a stunning vintage like 2021, who knows the lifespan. The wine spent 16 months in a mix of French oak, 48% hogsheads and 52% barriques. 

An inky opaque maroon colour here, the nose gives us chocolate, blackberries, tobacco leaves, soy, licorice, mint, vanilla and dried herbs. This is impressively concentrated and balanced at the same time. The structure exhibits good focus, great length and fine, silky tannins. On the palate we see notes of coffee beans, root vegetables and mocha. This wine has power. It will give pleasure for twenty years, more if you want. 97.

Château Musar 2015 / The vines that provided the grapes they were able to harvest were between 50 and 70 years of age. Ruby/garnet in color, the nose is dominated by red fruits with spicy notes, leather, bay leaves, warm earth and tobacco box hints. Attractive cherry notes on the palate. Serious concentration, balance, and intensity that travels the full length of the wine. Good complexity is already evident, and it finishes with plenty of grip. Unquestionably, a good future. Sure, perhaps a little more rustic than those who like the squeaky clean may prefer, but this is a wine full of interest. The longer you can give it in your cellar, the better. 94 for me, though this should improve with time.

Penfolds Grange 2018 – For me, it is simply one of the greatest young Australian wines I have seen. Truly stunning. It is a classic and cracking Grange. 

Like most Granges, a dollop of Cabernet is added to the Shiraz – this time just 3%. Multi-regional but Barossa dominant (69%), with material from McLaren Vale and the Clare Valley, the wine spent 18 months in new American hogsheads. 2018 was simply an outstanding vintage for South Australia. We have seen it with many wines and now we see it here with the Grange. 

Deep magenta in colour, near opaque. The immediate impression here is of great intensity but even more so, impeccable balance. A glorious nose, complete and complex. Black fruits are to the fore, and there is certainly oak evident, but of the finest quality and integrating superbly. The palate is fresh but dense and yet supple and seamless and with such length. Powerful, yet it sings and dances. The tannins are abundant yet so lace-like and silky that they are near invisible. Such an incredibly long finish, with the intensity maintained for the full length. Chocolate notes emerge on the finish. This should sail through 50 to 60 years in good cellars and could probably do up to 80 – not that this will be relevant to many of us. What was fascinating was that after tasting and scribbling notes, I realised that I had hardly identified any specific flavours, such is the overall balance and the way that nothing dominates to any extent, the wine already being such a complete entity. Retracing steps and with further investigation, look for mocha, blackberries, coffee bean notes, cassis, licorice, chocolate, charcuterie, beef stock and soy. Every taste brought forth new and evolving flavours. This is a truly magnificent wine, well on its way to becoming a legend. Not just a legendary Grange, but a legend in the world of wine. 100p.

The 1996 Salon, a famous blanc de blancs. Still so fresh and young, this will outlive most of us. My notes were simple: “Lord, take me now. 100.” Okay, not terribly helpful technically, but you get the gist. Not sure champagne gets better, but obviously it does get different. As an aside, a week later, I had the chance to enjoy a 1990 Salon. Another great vintage and great champagne, but much more advanced and mature. Great stuff, but I’d be drinking it sooner than later. The 1996? Any time you like.

Hugh Hamilton Loose Lips III NV – This wine goes against all the rules of conventional wisdom. A non-vintage red that blends Malbec (40%), Mataro (14%) and Grenache (8%) with the white grapes of Viognier (20%) Pinot Gris (11%) and Sauvignon Blanc (7%). Is there any other wine on the planet made up of this combination? It sounds like a trainwreck but the result is surprisingly good. Pale crimson in colour, this is soft and fragrant with notes of florals and herbs, red fruits and blackcurrant leaves. Some hints of undergrowth. Bright, fresh and exuberant with a soft, lingering finish. Drink now for a year or two. 91.