Hickinbotham Clarendon Vineyard Trueman Cabernet Sauvignon McLaren Vale South Australia 2017 (Each)

 

Rated 96 Points by James Halliday

 

Hand-picked, berry-sorted and extracted regally with the thrice rack and return culture applied to alleviate reduction while maximising lees to juice contact across 15 months in Bordeaux wood, new and 1yo. The result is a full-bodied cabernet of currant, brush, sage, leaf, bouquet garni and olive, bound to a strong tannic weave, all needing time to unravel. And unravel it will.  (8/2019)

 

Rated 94 Points by Bob Campbell

 

Deep red/purple colour, with intense violet and blackberry, blackcurrant and blueberry aromas, the fruit leading the charge and oak very much in the background.  It's superbly elegant and refined, with taut structure and clean lines.  Fine-grained, keenly balanced tannins and fresh acidity.  An even more elegant vintage of this wine than usual.  Fine, persistent aftertaste.  Huon Hooke (The Real Review)  (6/2019)

 

Rated 94 Points by James Suckling

 

Attractive cassis and ripe purple fruit with a wealth of blueberries and hints of cola nuts.  The palate has a juicy feel with exceptional depth, length and a complete tannin texture.  Really seamless and long.  Excellent cabernet.  Drink or hold.

 

Rated 94 Points by Wine Enthusiast

 

From the relatively cool 2017 vintage emerges a Cab of elegance and class.  It's layered with heady characters of mint, tobacco, licorice root and cherry cordial, with floral nuances and a spine of polished, high end oak.  Sculpted with fine, firm, talc-textured tannins, there's a lovely lift of acidity and purity of fruit.  Drink through 2030.  (12/2020)

 

Rated 93 Points by Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

 

The 2017 Trueman Cabernet Sauvignon is pretty classically made and styled, with notes of cassis, cedar and vanilla on the nose.  Befitting the cooler vintage, it's a bit more medium-bodied and streamlined than some other years, with ample acidity and firm tannins on the crisp, tangy finish.  It's a structural wine, rather than a generous, plush one, that's for sure, but it should come good in a few years' time.  (7/2020)

 

Rated 92 Points by Wine Spectator

 

Dark fruit flavors are fleshy and dense, juicy and appealing, with a floral note adding aromatic lift to the details of spice, tobacco and toasted herb.  Sticky toffee pudding and toasted cedary elements linger on the finish.  Drink now through 2030. 

 

Rated 90 Points by Wine & Spirits

 

The Jackson family of Sonoma bought the Hickinbotham family’s vineyard in the hills above McLaren Vale in 2012.  Chris Carpenter, one of the group’s lead winemakers, now travels to Clarendon to make the wines with Charlie Seppelt.  This is a floral cabernet with a tight structure that keeps giving juicy red berry flavors.  The fruit darkens with air and the florals deepen to violet scents, all of it saturated with oak richness.

 

Hickinbotham Clarendon Vineyard

 

Trueman Cabernet Sauvignon

 

McLaren Vale South Australia 2017

 

2017 was a cooler year in McLaren Vale.  The carryover from the 2016 rains into a perfect spring and then a cooler ripening season was ideal for Bordeaux varieties that need time on the vine to develop phenolic flavor rather than sugar, while maintaining acidity and structure.  The 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon shines this year with dusted cocoa, blackberry, anise; a middle body that is velvet to the touch with a tannin backbone that carries this wine for minutes after you have swallowed.  Vegan

 

Founded:  2012

 

Location:  McLaren Vale, South Australia

 

Winemaker:  Christopher Carpenter

 

The Hickinbotham Clarendon Vineyard covers a steep cut of country from the ridgetops above the village of Clarendon to the Onkaparinga River in the gorge below.  Since its establishment in 1971, the Hickinbotham vineyard has become a part of Australia's wine heritage, supplying fruit to produce many of Australia's greatest wines.  At the helm of the historic vineyard since 2012, winemaker Christopher Carpenter is continuing the winemaking legacy that began at Hickinbotham nearly 50 years ago.

 

 

Hickinbotham

 

92 Brooks Road

Clarendon, South Australia

 

The first vines at the Hickinbotham Vineyard were planted in 1971 by Alan David Hickinbotham, son of Australia’s first wine science lecturer at the famous Roseworthy Agricultural College, Alan Robb Hickinbotham.  This 186-hectare property of rolling hillsides remained under Hickinbotham family ownership for more than 40 years until it was purchased by the Jackson family in 2012.  The vineyard has been farmed according to organic and biodynamic practices since 2019.

 

The pedigree of the Hickinbotham Vineyard has long been established but, until the change of ownership in 2012, grapes from the 85-hectares of vines were only ever sold to an esteemed list of winemakers.  With wineries including Penfolds, Clarendon Hills and Hardys, grapes were credited to flagship wines like Penfolds Grange and Eileen Hardy Shiraz.  It was only Clarendon Hills that released vineyard-designate wines bearing the “Hickinbotham” name.

 

The first four wines to bear the Hickinbotham Vineyard label were produced from the 2012 vintage: Shiraz, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and a Cabernet Shiraz blend.  These parcels were selected from the oldest terraced plantings which trace the contours of the undulating, hillside terrain and continue to provide a rich tapestry of qualities from which the wines are crafted each year.

 

The character of the Hickinbotham Vineyard is profound and produces famously resilient wines with highly expressive character.  The breathtaking views from the top of the site down over the vines towards the Onkaparinga Gorge command ancient ground that is the key to the innate power this site produces.  The cooling breezes funnel through from the hills above and the coast below and lend a desirable freshness to the wines.

 

 

Rated 94 Points by Wine Enthusiast

 

From the relatively cool 2017 vintage emerges a Cab of elegance and class.  It's layered with heady characters of mint, tobacco, licorice root and cherry cordial, with floral nuances and a spine of polished, high end oak.  Sculpted with fine, firm, talc-textured tannins, there's a lovely lift of acidity and purity of fruit.  Drink through 2030.  (12/2020)

 

 

 

Rated 92 Points by Wine Spectator

 

Dark fruit flavors are fleshy and dense, juicy and appealing, with a floral note adding aromatic lift to the details of spice, tobacco and toasted herb.  Sticky toffee pudding and toasted cedary elements linger on the finish.  Drink now through 2030.