2020 d'Arenberg The Coppermine Road Cabernet Sauvignon, McLaren Vale

Bold aromas of blackcurrants, blackberry compote, blueberries, violets and cedar. The palate is full-bodied with firmly framed tannins and balanced acidity, giving flavors of eucalyptus, iodine and tobacco leaves. Bold, with a stylistic touch. Drink or hold.

94 points James Suckling, January 2025

Intense notes of Bonox, char and roasted fennel take the lead. Cola and blackcurrant jam join in too. Brash and bold aging flavours, stewed plums and leather are contained by a fine yet firm rail of tannins that guides the wine across the palate. It's trying to hold on to its freshness while tertiary notes are beginning to take hold. It's heady and upfront with ample structure. It will benefit from short-term aging, but its boldness is hard to ignore at the moment. Drink 2026 to 2032.

91 points Gabrielle Poy for The Real Review, January 2026

The 2020 The Coppermine Road Cabernet Sauvignon is inky and dense, with cassis and charry black fruit, firm, grippy tannins and an attractive, graphite quality to the palate. There’s lots going on here. This is a compacted, dense wine. Clove and dried mint tannin linger on the finish. Drink 2024 to 2035.

90 points Erin Larkin for The Wine Advocate, October 2024

From low-yielding vines and an apparently almost extinct clone. This is intensely fruited, leaning heavily into classic crème de cassis notes, fringed with a decent hedgerow of herbals. Although this is made to age, and the tannins are typically commanding, it is showing plenty of positive development at this stage. It’s older school of feel, and that will suit many just fine. Drink 2025 to 2034.

90 points Marcus Ellis for Halliday Wine Companion, May 2025

The Osborn family has been farming in McLaren Vale since 1912, and fourth generation winemaker Chester Osborn has spent decades pushing the boundaries of what the region's varieties can do.

Coppermine Road runs alongside what the family considers their finest Cabernet vineyard, just metres from the winery. Planted to a rare, almost extinct clone, yields rarely exceed one tonne to the acre — the kind of natural concentration that no winemaking technique can replicate.

The 2020 season opened with well above average winter rainfall before turning dry and warm through late summer, accelerating ripening and bringing harvest forward. Yields were respectable despite the conditions, and the fruit quality was strong.

Small batches are gently crushed and fermented separately in open five-tonne fermenters, foot trodden two thirds of the way through fermentation, then basket pressed and transferred to a mixture of new and used French oak barriques to complete fermentation and mature on lees for eighteen months. No fining, no filtration.

The wine is inky and intense — crème de cassis, dark cherry and cedar on the nose, with sage, dried herbs and a graphite minerality threading through. The palate is full-bodied and firmly structured with fine-grained tannins and a long, lingering finish of white pepper and dark fruit. Already showing well, but with the structure to develop further.

Decant generously if drinking now and pair with slow-roasted beef or aged hard cheese. Best from 2026 onwards.