First Growth Cabernet

Origin: Australia
Terroir: Coonawarra Estate

94% Cabernet Sauvignon / 5% Merlot / 1% Petit Verdot

First Growth is only produced when the growing season produces exceptional fruit quality, and when a particular vintage is deemed to have ageing potential beyond 15 years.

Traditionally, First Growth is predominantly made using Cabernet Sauvignon fruit from our Abbey vineyard, with some vintages containing a small portion of Merlot and/or Petit Verdot. It is a wine that proudly reflects the sub-region it is grown in, and is humbled by critical reviews including Langton's 'Excellent' Classification V, a 5-star winery rating from James Halliday and unfailing benchmark scores from international wine critics.

Since the release of the inaugural 1988 vintage, First Growth has set a benchmark for superior wine quality in the Coonawarra region. It is a wine made without compromise, using only the very best viticulture and winemaking practices, and is only produced when a particular vintage shows exceptional fruit quality and is deemed to have ageing potential for a minimum of fifteen years. As a result it has garnered a reputation for outstanding cellaring ability and is one of the few wines to have featured in every Langton’s classification.

First Growth is made exclusively from Reynell selection Cabernet Sauvignon (cuttings from pre-phylloxera Bordeaux) grown in the very best sub-sections of Parker Coonawarra Estate’s Abbey vineyard. We have also included a small portion of Petit Verdot from the "95 Block' in this vintage.

Fermentation and extended skin maceration took a total of thirty-six days, before pressing to a selection of 100% new Barriques, sourced from renowned Bordeaux cooperages Sequin Moreau and Taransaud. Regular racking and further élevage in oak for twenty months has made a complex and tightly structured wine, with great potential to reward cellaring for more than twenty years.

This wine has rested in bottle under strict temperature controlled conditions before release.