2023 Parker Estate 95 Block Cabernet Sauvignon, Coonawarra

Block 95 was actually sourced from the Estate’s Abbey Vineyard in Coonawarra. Vines were planted in 1995. The blend is 89% Cabernet Sauvignon and 11% Petit Verdot. Maturation was in barriques for sixteen months, 60% of them new. 300 dozen produced. The colour is a dark maroon/blood red. Good complexity is already evident on the nose with notes of tobacco leaves, chocolate, spices, coffee beans and cocoa powder. A seamless texture, impressive oak integration, excellent length, fine balance and a line of juicy acidity all combine to impress. A wine which is taut, offering fine tension and focus, It will drink beautifully over the next ten to fifteen years. Love it. Drink to 2041.

95 points Ken Gargett for Wine Pilot, April 2026

Deep, dark red-purple with a brooding humus/forest-floor and leafy bouquet that shows generous barrel maturation effect as distinct from overt oak. Crushed-leaf nuances became more evident with time in the glass. The palate is full-bodied and intense with lively acid/tannin framework, the cassis and mulberry flavours powerfully assertive on the middle and finish. Tannins are ample and supple. An impressive cabernet that will age long-term. Drink to 2040.

95 points Huon Hooke for The Real Review, March 2026

89/11% cabernet sauvignon/petit verdot. The undulating smoky spice note of this will coax you forward. Bing cherries and blackcurrants, sumac and boysenberry swirls. There is tobacco and maple leaf, terracotta and red clay. Dried thyme. A real mix of red berry fruit and wild bush shrubs. Astute acidity, powdery, fine tannins and a succulence. This drinks very well on release but will age slowly over the next decade. Drink to 2037.

94 points Shanteh Wale for Halliday Wine Companion, March 2026 

This Cabernet Sauvignon is made from grapes grown in a parcel planted in 1995 within the estate’s original Abbey vineyard.

The fruit was picked at night and fermented in a nine-tonne closed static fermenter for ten days before a further two weeks of extended skin contact. The wine matured for sixteen months in Taransaud barrels from France.

The 2023 vintage features a 10% inclusion of Petit Verdot.

About this producer

Parker Estate was established by John and Faye Parker’s 1985 planting of the Abbey Vineyard in Coonawarra with the Reynell Selection of Cabernet Sauvignon. Current owners, the Hesketh family through their Usual Suspects Collective, acquired the estate in 2013. The vineyards sit over a limestone base beneath rich Terra Rossa topsoil, a distinctive combination that has been the foundation of the region’s fame.