The
Power and the Passion: Wynns John Riddoch 1982-2019

BY ANGUS HUGHSON | SEPTEMBER 13, 2022&nbsp;There are few more iconic Australian wine
images than the ochre red soils of Coonawarra. Over thousands of years, rich
iron deposits have been weathered away leaving only rust in their wake. These
tongues of red soil fan out from Australia’s interior, but there are hardly any
places where they reach the cooler, southern coastline. As the harvest approaches,
those dark, friable soils starkly contrast against the green leaves and
handfuls of intense ruby Cabernet Sauvignon fruit. This is Terra Rossa country.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1663079996956-Classic+Coonwarra+Terra+Rossa+over+limestone+soils_copy.jpg">Classic Coonwarra Terra Rossa over limestone soils.Who Was John Riddoch? At the end of the 19th century, it was a hardy Scotsman, John Riddoch, who first believed in this far-flung corner of South Australia, not only for
wine but as an agricultural center for the country. Riddoch had the Midas touch
and a rare eye, seemingly everything he touched turned to gold. Riddoch started
out as a gold miner but rose to be a politician and one of South Australia’s
largest landholders, with over 100,000 acres of land, much of which was devoted
to sheep and wool. The cool and sometimes bitter local climate probably suited
him well, a reminder of his roots.During his early years on the goldfields,
Riddoch had also been a wine merchant and the interest never left him. With
grand plans to make the southeast a food bowl, he had his property surveyed and
was the first to discover the valuable Coonawarra Terra Rossa soils. He was one
of the earliest to bring science and knowledge into the establishment of
Australian vineyards.But it is not only the thin line of
fertile, iron-laced soils rich in calcium and silica that makes Coonawarra what
it is, but also what lies beneath - a layer of limestone from an ancient seabed
that averages 50cm deep, but in some places sits close to the surface. Soils
are free draining near the top, so the vines do not have ‘wet feet’. Unusually
for a prime wine region, Coonawarra is also almost flat as a pancake, slowly
rising toward its eastern border with most of the main vineyards only 60m above
sea level, making the free draining soil profile absolutely essential to
maintain quality. There is a water resource deep down that is accessible by
older vines which helps the local wines keep their sleek shape, even in
hot years.Riddoch planted acres of fruit trees and
vines including Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Pinot Noir, as well as
selling parts of his property to encourage other dreamers to do the same, the
Blockers. The first vintage was bottled in 1895, and later years of ‘Coonawarra
Claret’ were well received. Riddoch built a winery that was completed in 1897
which is still in use today. Unfortunately, at this time, Riddoch was close to
the end of his life; his untimely demise in 1901 saw the region’s wine fortunes
dramatically fall as brandy became the only home for local fruit. Riddoch was a
man of big ideas and great success, but the timing of his death saw
Coonawarra’s first flame extinguished before it had really gained any momentum;
its remote location made other regions such as the Barossa and McLaren Vale
more favourable for the embryonic industry.By the end of the 1930s, only 600 acres of
grapevines remained in Coonawarra, and the region’s future and John Riddoch’s
legacy were far from assured. The state government was paying growers to pull
out their vineyards and replace them with dairy farms – thankfully a handful did
not take up the offer. However, the 1950s proved to be a golden era for the
country and the wine industry thanks to a newfound national confidence. The
influx of European immigrants and culture after the Second World War further grew
the taste for wine and saw a move away from fortified wines, which had long
been the industry’s bread and butter. Many iconic wines and brands launched
during this period, including Penfolds Grange, Henschke Mount Edelstone and
Hill of Grace, as well as Wynns Coonawarra Estate.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1663080021851-Wynns+historic+gabled+Winery_copy.jpg">Wynns historic gabled Winery.Wynns Coonawarra Estate The Wynns name came about in 1951 when
Melbourne wine bar owner Samuel Wynn and his son David purchased the old estate
property. Wynn was not in fact his real name; Samuel Wynn changed his name from
Shlomo Weingraub after landing in Australia from Poland, a common habit at that
time. The Wynn family had been buying the estate wines for some years before
they purchased it, recognising the potential. Wynns’ first bottling was from a
year that was not easy: a 1952 Wynns Claret made with Shiraz. The first Cabernet
Sauvignon was made in 1954. This wine began what is an incredible lineage of
impressive Estate Cabernet Sauvignon. Some years ago, I attended a full
vertical tasting that stretched back to 1954. This vertical showcased a wine
that was ahead of its time and remains one of Australia’s great wine bargains,
with wines from every decade still drinking remarkably well.
Even more remarkable is the fact that early vintages were made under
challenging conditions. There was no electricity, with the winery relying on
steam power. Ferments were only four days long due to a chronic lack of tank
space. Early morning picking was used to retain fruit integrity with delivery
by horse and cart. Coonawarra’s isolation, which played a part in its first
downfall, again had a role in the small number of labourers available to work
in the vineyard. Supporters of the local football team were drafted into
pruning. This was frontier winemaking which slowly evolved and developed over
time. Despite these challenges, Coonawarra built a reputation for long-lived
claret styles. Unsurprisingly, the success of Wynns brought many others into
Coonawarra looking for cooler climate offerings, including Lindemans and
Penfolds, who have crafted iconic wines here.Vineyard quality has always been a vital
part of the Wynns story. While starting with a healthy supply from the original
property, this was increased in the 1980s. Today, Wynns is the largest
landholder in Coonawarra, including ownership of over 50% of the vineyards
located on Terra Rossa soils, which provide a wonderful resource for blending.
It includes the oldest Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon, the Johnson’s Block next
to the winery, planted in 1954. The continuing greater refinement in viticulture
has notably changed over the years and evolves to this day.The Golden Years Wynns has a long lineage of high-quality
winemakers, but arguably the last 30 years, during the custodianship of Sue
Hodder and Sarah Pidgeon, have been its most impressive in the vineyards and
winery. The long-term tenure of these talented winemakers, combined with a
viticultural team that includes Allen Jenkins, cannot be underestimated.After the challenges of the 2000 vintage
when it became clear that the condition of the vineyards was holding the brand
back, Wynns began a massive, and almost unprecedented, program of vineyard
regeneration, with 30% of vineyards replanted. According to Hodder “many were
irrelevant varieties or had vine trunk ailments or similar. The recent replanting
has been done with such care and precision – rootstock and scion selection,
soil preparation and row orientation all with climate change in mind.” As such,
there was no vintage of Wynns John Riddoch between 2000 and 2002. While some
vineyards were pulled out and replanted, others had their architecture and
trellising radically changed.Over the last 30 years, every part of the
winemaking and viticulture processes have been prodded and poked. Sarah Pidgeon
has led detailed oak trials which have made tangible changes to quality and
evenness of the vintages. One of the most important pieces of work has been
around yield and quality. The Wynns team have identified the key yield parameters
to maximise quality. They use modern sampling techniques to test grapevine
fruitfulness early in the season to direct vineyard operations. The key
beneficiary of this has been the John Riddoch Cabernet Sauvignon.The famed Terra Rossa soils of Coonawarra
exist in a north to south cigar shape that is 17 miles long and less than two
miles wide, almost all of which are planted with grapevines. The Wynns
vineyards are generally located down the centre of the cigar, which are the
highest vineyards, although the altitude differences are quite small, with
soils becoming sandier further to the east. The unique, highly concentrated
arrangement of vineyards in the region, much of which is owned by Wynns, has
seen a Burgundian-like attention to mapping of soils and bedrock. This is
without a doubt highly influential in their vineyard management and in turn wine
quality.&nbsp;<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1663079393759-Wynns+bottle+line+up.jpg">Wynns Cabernet Sauvignon John Riddoch With growing confidence in the quality of
the wines from Coonawarra, Wynns took the obvious step to create a reserve
label, The Cabernet Sauvignon John Riddoch. The first vintage was in 1982, and
the wine has been made in most years since then. According to Sue Hodder “John
Riddoch is not meant to be more concentrated than the Black label - it is
simply meant to have more complexity and interest.” It is essentially a block
selection, which changes every year depending on the vintage conditions, but
there are several vineyards that are regulars, including V &amp; A, Alex 84
&amp; 88, O’Deas, Messenger and Childs. Over time, the parcels that have made
it into John Riddoch have generally come off vines that are over 20 years old,
with the average around 45 years. They are also on their own roots, not
clonally selected, in the heart of Coonawarra along the main road and planted
in shallow soils with a depth of 40cm to 120cm of red clay over limestone. Overall,
the final selection of John Riddoch makes up only the top 1% of Wynns total
production. 





























































Winemaking for Wynns John Riddoch in recent
years has been fairly straightforward. Grapes are primarily hand-picked and
optically sorted before fermentation takes place in open, stainless-steel tanks
divided by vineyard block. Fermentation reaches around 28 to 30 degrees Celcius
with grapes pressed after 12 to 15 days and then run off into new and used
French oak barrels for between 14 and 20 months. For the 2019 vintage, 31% was
in new French oak with the remainder in oak between one and four years of age. Historically
some vintages were matured in American oak for an extended period of time, but
now maturation is in 100% French oak. While some of these older vintages were under
criticism at the time, those oak choices now have less effect than expected,
with the wood finding its balance over time. 
 
The full vertical tasting of Wynns John Riddoch highlighted that this wine is
one of the leading cellaring propositions for Australian Cabernet Sauvignon.
Despite reaching back 40 years and almost into another world in terms of
winemaking and viticulture, there were relatively few vintages past their best
with increasing consistency over time. This impressive lineage is a tribute to
the foresight of John Riddoch and the long toil of the Coonawarra community,
which to this day still includes descendants of those original Blockers who
believed in the Riddoch dream all those years ago.© 2022, Vinous. No portion of this article may be copied, shared or re-distributed without prior consent from Vinous. Doing so is not only a violation of our copyright, but also threatens the survival of independent wine criticism.<hr> You Might Also Enjoy<a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/the-not-so-wild-west-margaret-river-in-the-groove-sep-2022">The Not So Wild West: Margaret River in the Groove</a>, Angus Hughson, September 2022 <a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/penfolds-collection-2022-jul-2022">Penfolds Collection 2022</a>, Angus Hughson, July 2022

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