2022 Joshua Cooper Redbank Vineyard 1970's Vines Cabernet Sauvignon

Described by wine commentator Mike Bennie as "one of Australia’s brightest young winemakers”, Joshua Cooper is steadily forging a reputation for thoughtful, elegant, and confident wines from grapes grown in Macedon and surrounds. The Redbank Vineyard, overseen by its founder Neill Robb, has been cultivated without irrigation since its establishment. The vine roots have extended deep into the hillside soil, primarily consisting of shale and mudstone. This soil also features an iron-rich top layer of reddish-brown loam, which is crucial for retaining water. After three weeks of fermentation, the wine was pressed to a combination of new Stockinger 300L barrels (30%), Spanish stoneware jars and seasoned thin-staved Bordeaux barrels for 12 months of maturation. The wine is then racked to stainless steel tanks for four more months of settling, before bottling without any additives except a small amount of sulfur. While already quite enjoyable, this wine will become even more complex and rewarding with some moderate aging. Decanting well is recommended when drinking in its youth.

The 2024 Halliday Wine Companion Best New Winery of the Year

Other Reviews....
What a coup that cabernet enthusiast and cheerleader Josh Cooper gets fruit from this vaunted and celebrated Pyrenees vineyard! Proprietor Neill Robb still farms the 1970s planted vines.
Dark chocolate, dark plum, dark cherry, dark plum, you get the gist… It’s a vortex of potent and powerful cabernet flecked with mint, eucalyptus, cedar, clove, rich and smooth, though ribbons of fine, firm tannin, slightly bitter, do a wonderful job of tensing the wine up and guiding the lengthy persistence of these flavours. Fantastic wine, I hound the glass seeking the characters and textures on hand – an orchestral wine of high drinkability and prized age worthiness. Mega attractive. Drink 2023 - 2040+.
95 Points
Mike Bennie - The Wine Front