1995 Leconfield Coonawarra Cabernets

Leconfield Coonawarra Vineyards were established in 1974 by Sydney Hamilton. The 28 Hectare property is owned by Dr Richard Hamilton and family, whose family have been growing grapes in South Australia since 1837. 80% of the vineyard is devoted to red varieties, with the Cabernet family making up 93.5% of the red plantings (76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot, 6.5% Petit Verdot and 3.5% Cabernet Franc.) Leconfield has seen a remarkable thrust into prominence since 1990, with winemaker Ralph Fowler, producing a succession of top vintages. Fowler uses wild yeasts strains, minimal sulphur and only a limited degree of filtration to produce rich powerful Coonawarra wines.The 1995 Leconfield Cabernet is still a very young wine and demands a decant or a couple of hours with the cork out of the bottle. On immediate opening there is a dominant tea leaf aroma which dissipates from the nose after about half an hour and then stays very much in the distant background thereafter. Intense, opaque, deep crimson purple colour. The nose is filled with spice, blackcurrants mulberry and some earthy, pepper aromas with just a hint of tea leaf. The palate is full flavoured with a subtle hint of charred oak and some dusty cabernet flavours. The wine displays excellent balance and fine grained tannin structure, with very long earthy berry aftertaste. Cellar 5-8 years.