Coonawarra

1998 Coonawarra Vintage Report

By the end of August, Coonawarra's rainfall was officially the lowest on record and even above average rains in September failed to bring soil moisture back to normal. June to August rains totalled 130mm, about half the average, and provided unwelcome evidence of the El Nino threat. October continued very dry, before a wonderful November produced several short, heavy bursts of rain which brought soil moisture levels back to normal and promoted vigorous growth. The dry conditions returned in December and lasted all summer but, fortunately, without baking heat. The season remained wonderfully disease-free.

Vintage started early. It continued trouble-free, without delays, and has delivered large volumes of remarkably consistent wine. It was immediately clear that cabernet sauvignon was of wonderful quality — back to that of 1990 and 1991 — but as time went by and the wines cleaned up after fermentation, it became clear that shiraz was just as strong. Paul Gordon is very excited with his wines at Rouge Homme, describing the reds as 'very strong, with full ripeness and no leafy or peppery characters. For value-for-money, the Shiraz Cabernet will be outstanding, although the Cabernet Sauvignon will be the real benchmark,' he added. In spite of excellent Limestone Ridge and Pyrus, Greg Clayfield at Lindemans thinks St George is narrowly the pick of the 'Trio'. 'It's between 1990 and '91 in style — the richness of the '90, but with the elegance of '91.'

The great consistency has delivered the best volumes of Wynns reds for some time and there are some great parcels of cabernet and shiraz reserved for John Riddoch and Michael.

Whites, too, are consistently very good, with richly flavoured chardonnays and aromatic rieslings.