Parker Estate First Growth Cabernet Sauvignon 2021

Distinguished, ageworthy and an icon of the Coonawarra, this is a dense Cabernet with refinement and elegance.

Bottle Image

Tasting Notes

Parker Estate First Growth Cabernet Sauvignon 2021

"Never has a new release Cabernet Sauvignon captivated me as much as this First Growth from Parker Coonawarra Estate. Elegance, detail and supreme sophistication, this 2021 release is exceptional.
Measured and balanced to every degree, its class seeps from every pore.
From Parker's Abbey vineyard, a long dry ripening period with mild conditions provided a solid base for the 2021 Coonawarra vintage. The fruit was fermented for 10 days plus 31 days on skins with 75% new French oak barriques used for 16 months.
Blackcurrants, blackberries and blackberry pastilles drive the fruit profile as mint, bay leaf and olive leaf play excellent support roles. Dried herbs and soft spices emerge with time in the glass but the delicately fluent and silky shape cannot be outdone. The oak is handled perfectly and melts into the frame with sheer ease, leaving enough savoury delight to muse over. A wine that has been harpooned back to the top tier where it belongs, this is winemaker Ox Hardy at his best. Drink to fifteen years+"
98 Points, Steve Lescynski, qwinereviews

"100% Abbey vineyard. Maturation occurred in 75% new barriques for 16 months. Just as the '20 vintage hinted at its future potential, with subtle yet distinctive signs, the soon-to-be-released '21 vintage remains intriguingly reserved, keeping its secrets close in this exceptional year. A beautifully fruit-focused wine beginning with rosella and persimmon, following up with ruby figs and just-picked blackberries. There are coffee grinds, sansho pepper and paprika spice. A spider’s web of intricate tannin ensures this wine will age gracefully, unfolding at its own unhurried pace. The prestige it carries makes this a vintage you won’t want to miss. While already drinking beautifully, its true character will emerge between 10 and 18 years from now. I quiver at the thought of how sensationally this wine will evolve." 97 Points, Shanteh Wale, Halliday Wine Companion

"This is another Do I? or Don’t I? Kind of wine from Parker Estate. To open now is to enjoy a Cabernet Sauvignon already in balance early in its life. It’s slow moving, building with time in the glass and with contact with air, but once it’s ready to go, it’s got it, looking very much in the regional zone. Enticing black fruits to the fore, crushed herbs and leaves, red earth with blackstrap liquorice which takes the wine long into the finish. Thoroughly ripened, fruit is well supported by oak and woody spices which remain a background note that sits comfortably with the wine, another layer to explore in what is a complex young beauty. Even tannins seal the deal. Yes, you can drink now. You can also drink later."  96 Points, Jeni Port, Wine Pilot

"A youthful plum red and vibrant in the glass. Complex and lifted aromas of cassis, cedar, nutty oak, bramble, ferrous earth and dark cherry. Structured, long, layered and with plenty of grip and presence. Dark fruits, serious tannins and acidity are all doing their thing and shape a classic Coonawarra cabernet that is built for the long haul." 95 Points, Aaron Brasher, The Real Review

"Deep crimson and delivering a rich core of savoury blackberry, dried herbs and red
earth aromas with mahogany oak influences. Firm and dry, with powerful layers
of vibrant dark berry flavour well supported by rich veins of chewy tannins to
finish. Drink 2030–2042" 95 Points, Angus Hughson / Andrew Caillard MW, SA Wine Guide/Wine Pilot

"It’s not overdone. It’s powerful, svelte, long through the finish, tannic and complex, with cabernet’s trademark tobacco, olive and dried herb characters threaded artfully through boysenberry, red licorice and blackcurrant fruit flavours. It feels classy but it also feels balanced and measured, as all the best wines do, the sustained length of the finish the final confirmation that we’re in excellent territory. Cedarwood oak too has melted almost entirely into the fruit; always a good sign." 94+ Points, Campbell Mattinson

"Parker Estate's Abbey Vineyard represents the ambitions and ideals of contemporary generations, where heritage and modernity are beautifully blended." Andrew Caillard MW, The Vintage Journal Verticals

Since its first release in 1988, the name Parker Coonawarra has represented outstanding quality, longevity and elegance from the region. Based in the very southern end of the Terra Rossa strip, the wines have always embodied a fine, long-lived, classic style. The Hesketh family became the custodians of the vision for Parker in 2013, and have continued with these ideals. The wines offer an exceptional insight into why the Coonawarra region became famous for powerful yet delicious cabernet. This includes a Langton's classification for the flagship First Growth bottling.

Producer website: https://www.parkercoonawarraestate.com.au

Producer logo: Logo