Cab sav up for world accolade

TRENTHAM Estate’s 2021 Reserve Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon may not be liquid gold, but it is a gold medal liquid on one of the wine world’s biggest stages.

It has just been crowned a gold medallist at the prestigious 2025 International Wine Challenge – one of the industry’s most sought-after accolades.

And even though the red had been sweeping all before it on the Australian scene – including gold at the Melbourne International and Perth Royal – the UK-based IWC takes that to a whole new level according to Trentham managing director and chief winemaker Anthony Murphy.

“Once you are scoring points over 90, around 92 and 93, you know you are onto something special, but to get a 95 is seriously special,” he said.

“We last received an IWC gold medal in 2015 for our Reserve Heathcote Shiraz, so it is fantastic to see another of our wines considered to be this standard.

“That’s not forgetting our ’23 Heathcote Shiraz and ’24 Adelaide Hills Chardonnay, which scored 94 and 93 points respectively and received silver medals.

“We have been entering the best of our wines in this highly influential show for two decades, which also shows just how good a product you need, and how hard you have to work, to go gold.”

Mr Murphy said while the Coonawarra might seem to be a little out of favour as a winegrowing area, he knows it always produces great fruit and good wines.

He said in particular its low cropping delivers a well-coloured fruit, with not overly large berries, and you can already see the red in its juice.

“Then during the ferment when you start to get that good colour, when the nose is giving off those special aromatics, that’s when you can start getting excited,” Mr Murphy enthused.

“And while this is a 2021, it still has plenty of life left in it yet and will be an excellent drink for at least another five years.

“Fruit and age are a complex combination, but I like to think of reds as a younger drink and this one is certainly that.”

Mr Murphy said the vineyards which produced the grapes have been in the Coonawarra for more than a century and he will keep accessing them in the years ahead.

He said Trentham doesn’t make a lot of Reserves, and none of them on a big scale, although there is still plenty of the gold medal available.

“The real trick is being able to do it again, and hopefully not have to wait another 10 years before the industry agrees you’ve got another superstar,” Mr Murphy added.

“In fact, we are making another one right now, a Reserve Adelaide Hills Chardonnay, which is in the oak as we speak.

“Our Reserves are very much the cream on the cake; you won’t often find them in the retail sector, we limit them to our wine club and cellar door, they are that little something extra we think.

“The notes on our wine, from the IWC judges, would also be music to any red lover’s ears: ‘Black plum, cherry, lots of structured tannins. Concentrated cassis, blackberry flavours. This is bold, ripe and structured, with great depth to the finish’.

“All three wines, the gold medal Cab Sav and the silver medal Shiraz and Chardonnay, will probably appear in some select wine shops and top venue wine lists as well as through our cellar door and wine club – and with the gold at just $28 it is a win-win for everyone.”

There is, however, one downside to such success.

Mr Murphy said only bottled and labelled wines can be entered in the IWC, so now he and his team will have to spend a few hours sticking the special run of gold medal stickers on the bottles to celebrate.