2001 Wynn's Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon (Black Label)

[wondersofwine]

14% alcohol
Very dark purple color with crimson rim. Attractive nose of cassis, dark plums, and polished leather. Tastes ripe and a bit jammy, amost sweet, with unobtrusive soft tannins that cut in only on the finish if the wine is held in the mouth for awhile. At it's peak?
Nice with smoked cheddar. Probably would be a good match to roast beef but delightful as a quaffer without food as well. One of my favorite inexpensive Cabs from anywhere. (The 2003 and 2004 versions are selling for about $15 per bottle at Carolina Wine Company.)

You can stop reading at this point if you don't take any stock in back labels, but I thought some of the info was educational:

"Wynn's Coonawarra Estate is the oldest established winery in Australia's most celebrated fine wine region--Coonawarra. Coonawarra owes its unique reputation as a wine region to a thin layer of rich red soil--"terra rossa"--which lies over a porous limestone, providing its vines with ideal drainage conditions to produce intensely flavored grapes. These grapes also benefit from a long, slow ripening season, due to Coonawarra's cool southerly climate." <terroir>
"The 2001 vintage in Coonawarra was very low yielding. Small intensely flavored berries made concentrated wine showing excellent Cabernet Sauvignon varietal characters of mint and cherry" <I didn't really pick up on any mint or eucalyptus> "This wine demonstrates the intensity and refinement characteristics of all Cabernet Sauvignon bottled under the Wynn's label." "Wynn's Coonawarra Estate--the Estate that made Coonawarra famous." <so much for modesty>

Imported by PWG Vintners, Napa, CA.

Better on the first day than the second. I did really enjoy it the first evening.

[VouvrayHead]

their red blend was even better (in my memory)
Cab/merlot/shiraz i think?

[Innkeeper]

Methinks the blend is somewhat lower in cost. Jancis Robinson thinks and believes by what's in her cellar that Coonawarra Cabs are right up there with Napa's.

[VouvrayHead]

yep, the blend was around $11, the cab around $14.
I thought the cab was a little overdone, though still a good value, and the blend pretty perfect for what it was. This was a while ago, though...
We sold tons of the blend at a little health-food store where I used to be the wine-buyer.

[wondersofwine]

The 2004 Wynn's Black Label Cabernet Sauvignon is supposed to be one of their best yet. I just ordered four bottles.