Lindemans timed it well to pull something out of the box. Just as the entire Southcorp winemaking structure is being put under the microscope as a result of its ‘merger’ with Rosemount Estate, Lindemans winemakers Phillip John and Greg Clayfield have been touting around the wine trade and media with their 1998 Lindemans Coonawarra red releases. Not only are they the best collection yet put together of St George, Limestone Ridge and Pyrus, but each of the three wines will eventually be recognised as the best released under its respective label to this time. Despite the undoubted quality of its key vineyards, it’s always been a struggle for Lindemans Coonawarra. Although I believe its mechanically operated vineyards are now operating at a high level, I’m not the only one who wonders how good its fruit might be if they were managed more conventionally. It flirted with minimal pruning throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s, but that alone doesn’t explain the inconsistency of Lindemans’ principal wines during this time. Its vineyard managers were essentially pioneering new techniques and the vines were constantly settling into new and adapted regimes. Furthermore, this period coincided with some radical changes in winemaking, especially with respect to tannin management and oak maturation. More importantly, its various owners has never really given Lindemans the freedom to do with these wines what other Southcorp brands like Edwards & Chaffey or Devil’s Lair have been able to achieve. The wines’ potential has been capped by the pricing strategies of marketing boffins of questionable vision in plush Sydney offices. There’s no reason why St George, Limestone Ridge and Pyrus shouldn’t sit alongside the very best from Southcorp, but wouldn’t that just make them compete against Wynns Michael and John Riddoch? Straight into the too hard basket! One hopes that Southcorp’s new management might recognise the real opportunity Lindemans represents. If ever they need motivation to fulfil its real potential, all they need to do is open a bottle of the 1998s, any of them.
