2022 Mystery Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon Deal No. 6408

96 POINTS

Shanteh Wale - Halliday Wine Companion

Matured for 15 months in French oak. As giving as the Prodigy siblings is, this wine is reticent in all its secrets of blackberries, wild cherries and prunes. Holding its cards close to its chest, a swift decant will begin to peel away the covers. You’ll find anise spice with coffee, wattleseed and wild thyme. Its acidity and grainy tannins sit perched up on the front palate, that only a decade in the cellar will begin to unfurl. This is strong and sturdy now and will continue to show its pedigree with the evolution of time.

96 POINTS

Ken Gargett - Winepilot

Exceptional Coonawarra Cabernet, the wine spent fifteen months in French oak for maturation. Early days but there is much promise here. An opaque maroon, the wine is immediately dense yet well balanced and fresh. Aromas swirl through black cherries, tobacco leaves, smoked meats, aniseed, beef stock, cloves and chocolate. The oak is deftly handled and this is a wine of finesse, balance and refinement. Very long with fine, satiny tannins, it lingers with intent. Drink over the next twenty years.

95 POINTS

Cyndal Petty - Winepilot

A royal wine, full of reference and wonder. Salted dark chocolate, violets, and tart dark fruit. It looks like Cabernet, smells like Cabernet – the typicity is the allure, with bay leaf, black fruit, and scraped vanilla bean. The latter from oak. A guilty sweet, like an Arnott’s choc-mint biscuit at the end of the night. Honestly, I’d rather curl up with this. Medium-bodied, as it should be. It reminds me of a woman in dark blue silk, slow-dancing, unattainable, unaware of every stare – just blissful in her moment. Sure, hold and cellar, but I love it now for its youthful bounce and sticky tannin. Decant before drinking.

93 POINTS

Tom Kline - Winepilot

Made only in the best years, matured 15 months in French oak hogsheads. Opaque with a ruby rim. Opens with cedar, eucalyptus tea, and mint, before notes of old leather and tilled earth. Cassis follows with air, along with dark chocolate and spent coffee grounds. The palate is more elegant than the nose suggests, cassis driving the core with cedar, choc-mint, and earth around it. Firm, grainy tannins provide a vertical frame. Mint and cedar intermingle with cassis on a long finish. Oak plays a clear role, particularly aromatically, but the palate balances power with finesse. Not for the faint of heart, but a powerful, ageworthy Coonawarra Cabernet.

92 POINTS

2025 - Decanter World Wine Awards

Rich nose of black plums, mulberry, cassis and currants with oak undertones. Dense texture and full body, with fine-grained tannins. Award: Silver - DWWA 2025