Coonawarra Cabernet at its finest, showcasing the distinctive regional characteristics of fruit grown on terra rossa soil over limestone. Structural with regional blackcurrant fruit and long fine tannins to ensure a long life a head of it.
AROMA - Dark, savoury bitter chocolate, with ripe black current fruit and floral notes.
TASTE - Generous plush fruit, and regional tannin structure, savoury and chewy texture, with lingering bitter chocolate overtones.
IDEAL DRINKING WINDOW - 2023-2038
Pairs well with braised duck tagliatelle casserole, combined with pasta and a side salad.
95 Points - Aaron Brasher - The Real Review 2022 - "Inky, opaque, really dark in colour. Classic Coonawarra cab aromas of blackberry, cassis, cedar, eucalyptus, bramble, lead pencil and tobacco: there's a whole lot going on here. Dense, dark and black fruit driven on the palate. There’s a real drive of cassis, blackberry, mulberry, mint and briar. Great depth, weight, balance, and complexity. The tannins are firm, acidity bright and lively and it all works admirably with the plush fruit. 14 JUL 2022 Drink now to 2037"
95 Points - Erin Larkin - Halliday Wine Companion 2022 - "Machine picked, inoculated in tank, transferred to 47% new French oak to finish fermentation and 17 months' maturation. This intensity, this density of texture, is what put Australia on the map internationally. The way it feels is both comforting and satisfying. It's not made in the modern style of Australian cabernet – it is firmly placed in the old school – but there is significant charm there. Classical and concentrated, the tannins are so finely knit that the webbing is almost opaque, the fruit caught in it speaks of poached plums, summer figs, blackcurrant pastille and licorice. This will absolutely evolve gracefully in the cellar, but if you're drinking it now, you must decant it."
96 Points- Andrew Caillard MW - The Vintage Journal 2022 - "Deep crimson. Intense inky, blackcurrant, dark cherry, praline aromas with lifted sage/ herb notes. Generous blackcurrant, dark chocolate flavours, dense chocolaty tannins and integrated roasted chestnut/ marzipan flavours. Finishes rainy firm and minerally with bay leaf/ chinotto notes. Drink now – 2038 14% alc"
96 Points- Ray Jordan - West Australian 2022 - "No mistaking the distinctive aromas of violets and perfumed, scented cabernet that heralds it is from Coonawarra. It’s from the north-west part of Coonawarra, which is more in the blackcurrant zone. More generous and less floral, and is balanced with 50 per cent new French oak. A deep and generously appointed Coonawarra cabernet. Outstanding wine. 96/100"
96 Points- Tyson Stelzer - WBM – Australia’s Wine Business Magazine 2023 - "St Hugo had its genesis in Coonawarra Cabernet and this new single vineyard release harks back to the great, enduring wines of the past. It captures the essence of the region and the variety in wonderfully fragrant lift, pinpoint red and blackcurrant integrity and a breathtaking, expansive plain of chalk-mineral tannins that will sustain it for decades. 14.3%"
