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1998 Gartner Family Vineyards Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon

Coonawarra, South Australia, AUSTRALIA
$29. 99
Bottle
$359.88 Dozen
Closure: Cork
THE BIRTH OF A NEW WINE ICON

Gartner Cabernet Sauvignon is set to be an overnight success – the fact that it took 20 years of experience to produce is another story. The man behind Gartner is Peter Douglas, one of Australia’s Master winemakers with 20 vintages behind him. Most Australian wine lovers will remember him as the wine maker behind the Wynns Coonawarra Collection, including John Riddoch and Michael.
In recent years Peter Douglas has been in California, creating Super Premium wines for the US market. The Gartner Family are third generation Coonawarra farmers and viticulturists and just happen to be the largest independent growers of super premium quality grapes in Coonawarra. In the past the grapes were sold to Australia’s big wine companies. Today, a portion is being held back to develop their own brand – and it would seem that over the next few years more of their grapes are destined for their own label. Peter’s winemaking is not typical of Coonawarra, as the 1998 Gartner Cabernet Sauvignon has a distinct Medoc influence.
50% New French oak and 50% one year old French oak were used to create this wine. Yields were restricted to the magic 3 tonnes per acre to produce perfect quality fruit, from what is now regarded as the Greatest Vintage of last Century. Fermentation took place in static fermenters with two and a half weeks of maturation on skins.

AN EXCEPTIONAL WINE MADE BY A CABERNET MASTER

Tasting Notes: Opaque crimson colour with black centre and deep mauve edges. The nose has all the hallmarks of a Great Coonawarra Cabernet – and is reminiscent of the classed growth wines of Pauillac. This wine has that very rare quality of ‘breed.’ It has elegance with classic refined Cabernet structure. The nose is outstanding with its wonderful aroma of blackcurrant, mocca, cedar, spice and violets. The new French oak has been handled with great skill, adding to the wine depth and complexity rather than subverting the fruit. The palate flavours display perfect integration of fine oak and fruit. Almost seamless in its profile with flavours of spice, blackcurrant, cedar and mocca merging with velvet smooth tannins. This is a style of winemaking that we haven’t seen for a few years – it is inspired by Bordeaux, yet overcomes the hard, tannic flavours so often associated with the variety and delivers the right degree of ripe fruit flavours without any suggestion of jammy or herbaceous character. Exceptionally long mocca, blackcurrant and spice aftertaste. It is a wine made by a Cabernet Master and a new arrival on the Australian wine scene. Given the pedigree of the vineyard and winemaker, and taking into account comparable wines like Peter Douglas’ John Riddoch, this wine is under valued, and a great new collectable. A new benchmark for Coonawarra. Cellar 5-8 years. Stocks are limited.

RATING: 96/100

VALUE: XXXXX/5