Wynns Coonawarra Estate Shiraz 1999

The original Wynns Estate started out as a sheep farming station, running 160,000 head on a 700 km squared property in the Coonawarra region of South Australia. John Riddoch, founder of the estate, moved to the region in 1861 and in 1897, had over 52 hectares under vine. The rest, as they say, is history, as Riddoch's descendants continued to change the face of Australian winemaking in this tiny isolated region known for its 'Terra Rossa' or 'red earth' soil, yielding intensely coloured and concentrated fruit.

Today, Wynns is the largest landowner in the region with 950 hectares under vine with a focus on Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz. Sue Hodder leads the winemaking team at Wynns. It's not surprising that she is one of Australia's best-known winemakers; she started her career as a viticulturalist before turning her eye toward winemaking. Accompanied by Allan Jenkins - a viticulturist for the past thirty years - the pair were named Gourmet Traveller Wine's Winemaker of the Year in 2010.