Hickinbotham Trueman Cabernet Sauvignon 2016
-
James
Suckling -
Robert
Parker -
Wine
Spectator -
Wine &
Spirits - Decanter
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
A shining display of why Trueman is one of the winery’s most highly regarded wines. Violet, blueberry, purple olive and cedar aromas lead to rich blackberry and plum flavors. Tannins are long and layered, delivering exceptional depth of flavor and a long, seamless impression that ages gracefully.
Vegan
Professional Ratings
-
James Suckling
A fresh and fragrant cabernet with violets and dark rose-like floras, cassis and blueberries. There is also a decent serving of spicy oak in the mix. The palate is smoothly arranged on sheets of formidably strong tannins, which are carried seamlessly into the finish. A stunning cabernet. Best from 2022. Screw cap.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The inky purple 2016 Trueman Cabernet Sauvignon is a super effort. It boasts intense, classic aromas of pencil shavings and cassis on the nose, then delivers rich waves of velvety but structured fruit on the full-bodied palate. If there's any complaint, it's that it's perhaps a bit too monolithic, but it's a young wine and should add layers of complexity given enough time in the cellar. It's not unapproachable now, but it probably won't fully hit its stride for at least five years and then be drinkable for at least a decade after that.
-
Wine Spectator
Juicy and vibrant, showing terrific purity to the raspberry and black cherry flavors at the polished and refined core, with supple tannins and details of Earl Grey tea, violet and toasted cumin. Impressive for the seamless harmony and the creamy texture, this shows a tug of grip from the tannins on the finish. Drink now through 2035. 2,650 cases made.
-
Wine & Spirits
There’s a sense of coolness to this wine, from the deep, rosy black-cherry color to the foresty fruit—black plum and blackberry with an evergreen edge. That freshness includes a gingery spice and the scent of asphalt after a rain. This is a balanced, medium-weight cabernet, delicious with duck, or with meaty roast eggplant.
-
Decanter
Very unusual mix of marzipan, dry chocolate and blackcurrant. It is quite tannic, but does have some violet scent and sap to lift it. Sarah Jane Evans: Textbook aromas: blackcurrant with a hint of green pepper. This is a modern and glossy approach to Cab. Fleshy blackcurrants and a firm undertone of cedar. Tina Gellie: Quite a jammy Cab, but still has that cassis and green pepper note, plus soft vanilla oak and grippy tannins.
Other Vintages
2019-
Robert
Parker -
James
Suckling -
Wine
Spectator -
Wine
Enthusiast
-
Australian Wine
Companion -
Robert
Parker -
James
Suckling -
Wine
Spectator
-
James
Suckling -
Robert
Parker -
Wine
Spectator -
Wine &
Spirits
-
Wine
Spectator
-
James
Suckling -
Wine
Spectator
First planted in 1971 to dry-farmed Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz, Hickinbotham Clarendon Vineyard sits in the hills of Clarendon, at the upper limit of Australia’s revered McLaren Vale winegrowing region. The vineyard historically produced fruit for many of Australia’s iconic producers like Penfolds, Hardy’s, and Clarendon Hills, and was not bottled under its own label until 2012.
The confluence of the hills, ocean and ancient earth – the vineyard sits atop a 75 million-year-old geology – has a strong influence on the style of wines made here. Under the helm of winemakers Christopher Carpenter and Peter Fraser – and viticulturer Michael Lane – Hickinbotham Clarendon Vineyard employs organic and biodynamic farming practices to produce a range of highly distinctive and powerful red wines. Its flagship wine, The Peake, is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz – a style that embraces a famous part of Australia’s winemaking history. It is complemented by a highly acclaimed lineup that has garnered attention from global critics and drawn eyes to Clarendon as a region producing some of Australia’s most celebrated wines.
A noble variety bestowed with both power and concentration, Cabernet Sauvignon enjoys success all over the globe, its best examples showing potential to age beautifully for decades. Cabernet Sauvignon flourishes in Bordeaux's Medoc where it is often blended with Merlot and smaller amounts of some combination of Cabernet Franc, Malbecand Petit Verdot. In the Napa Valley, ‘Cab’ is responsible for some of the world’s most prestigious, age-worthy and sought-after “cult” wines. Somm Secret—DNA profiling in 1997 revealed that Cabernet Sauvignon was born from a spontaneous crossing of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc in 17th century southwest France.
Known for opulent red wines with intense power and concentration, McLaren Vale is home to perhaps the most “classic” style of Australian Shiraz. Vinified on its own or in Rhône Blends, these hot-climate wines are deeply colored and high in extract with signature hints of dark chocolate and licorice. Cabernet Sauvignon is also produced in a similar style.
Whites, often made from Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc tend to be opulent and full of tropical, stone and citrus fruit.