Hickinbotham The Trueman Cabernet Sauvignon 2018
Hickinbotham
The Hickinbotham Clarendon Vineyard covers a steep cut of country from the ridgetops above the village of Clarendon to the Onkaparinga River in the gorge below. After noticing an auction for a parcel of country property and fully aware of the 125-year history of the vineyard across the river, Alan Hickinbotham Jr. decided to bid on it. And luckily he did. Since its establishment in 1971, the Hickinbotham vineyard has become a part of Australia’s wine heritage, supplying fruit to produce many of Australia’s greatest wines.
Alan and his family began establishing water reservoirs and planning a serious vineyard, planting Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz on dry-grown, terraced blocks. He soon bought 37 hectares called Schmidts on the opposite side of the road (facing south), and his son David added another 16ha neighbouring the original north-facing purchase, then more land on the western side.
The Clarendon Vineyard has continued the legacy of Alan Sr. with great pride. The Hickinbothams were very highly regarded for the sublime quality of the fruit they grew at Clarendon, selling select parcels to Penfolds for Grange and to Hardy's for their equivalent white flagship, the Eileen Hardy Chardonnay.
By 2000, Alan’s son David Hickinbotham had established a partnership with winemaker Roman Bratasiuk, who with great success launched his Clarendon Hills Hickinbotham Vineyard. After Alan’s passing in 2010, David took over the stewardship of the property, in January 2012 sold Hickinbotham Clarendon Vineyard to the Jackson Family who continues the legacy today.
SKU
HICS201810 UCAU
$72.99
Per item
Price:
2018 Trueman carries a quiet yet powerful grace often reserved for some of world’s finest wines. Evoking aromas of ripe blackberries and bittersweet chocolate with hints of rose petal and wild sage. This transitions to an impeccably balanced palate with black plum notes and a fresh acidity interlaced with velvety tannins leads to a long and memorable finish.
2018 Trueman carries a quiet yet powerful grace often reserved for some of world’s finest wines. Evoking aromas of ripe blackberries and bittersweet chocolate with hints of rose petal and wild sage. This transitions to an impeccably balanced palate with black plum notes and a fresh acidity interlaced with velvety tannins leads to a long and memorable finish.
Scores & Reviews
97 / 100
James Halliday
Grown on a vineyard planted in '71. This is a superb cabernet. Dusty, dry and herbal but awash with sweet, boysenberried, blackcurrant-drenched fruit. It lays down oodles of flavour, not to mention tannin, but it's fragrant and frisky at the same time. One sip and you can't let go; it has you in its thrall.
95+ / 100
Gary Walsh
I think this is maybe the best Trueman I can recall tasting. It’s true, man. There’s certainly a Napa-esque lushness about this, and the Cabernet Franc.
Dark chocolate, ripe blackberry, flowers, garden herbs, spicy biscuit oak. It’s full-bodied, but not heavy, a flood of dark and persuasive flavour, cocoa richness of tannin, baking spices and sage, and a powerful finish, layered in with sweet tannin and surprising freshness. Exemplary Cabernet here.
94 / 100
Nick Stock
Intense aromas of ripe dark berries, purple olives, violets, intense cedary oak, forest wood, leather and tobacco. The palate is dense, concentrated and packed with dark-berry flavors. Bold tannin chew. Needs time for the oak and tannin to settle in. Try from 2024. Screw cap.