Cabernet by Little Reddie

If there is a story that perfectly encapsulates the journey of contemporary Australian Wine, it is that of Pat Underwood with his Little Reddie label. When the 2010s rolled in and brought with the new decade a yearning for experimentation and finding the next wild frontiers of wine, Pat was there, fucking around & making some weird shit, weird, wild & unstable beasts that would blow us away or be that proverbial stove-top best left untouched. When the thirst for the experimental tuckered itself out as the 2020s threw itself upon us and the loud bashing, clanging uncertainty that it brought with it lead us all to seek something a little quieter, a little softer, a little more caring, Pat was there, honing his proverbially burnt hands to refine his liquidic kids from beasts into beauties, instead of throwing caution to the wind, he was listening to the whispers within it, taking more time to see each detail as it presented itself in the wine, to round off everything left that was a little too sharp or little too rough. His wines at this point in time are the product of what was learned last decade most definitely, but now bear evidence of lessons we learned in wine over centuries, the tried & true if you will.

The proof of that blabber does lay in the pudding though of course, the 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon, a careful meeting of Heathcote’s demands, its well-ripened fruits have been given the room they need in a broader wine, its grip of the earth allowed to play as its more rambunctious tannins are allowed to soften themselves instead of being denied their place, after 18 months in seasoned French barriques, it shows its woods proudly, not limited by the hostility of steel in the oft misplaced pursuit of freshness above all else as the focus once was. All of this is not to say it’s yet another Heathcote cliché, not by any means, it is still of Pat’s hands, it is detailed in his pursuit of elegance, of what is gentle, yes it is a bolder, fuller wine but it is never loud, it is never bullish, it is a celebration of these deeper, darker fruits that Cabernet allows but without letting it get away from itself. 

Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon
Region: Heathcote, VIC
ABV: 13.9%