Cabernet sauvignon from Yarra Yering’s original 1969 plantings. Matured in 225L French barriques (30% new). Deeply and brightly coloured. Classy and discreet cabernet with its bouquet of subtle but concentrated black cherries and blueberries together with discreet cedar and cigar box. Graphite and violets, too. Tightly wound with firm yet sophisticated tannins. More backward than the Dry Red Wine No. 1 from the same year. I can't really split them, and I'd love to revisit these two wines in five, 10 and 15 years from now. 75 dozen made. – 98pts, Philip Rich for Halliday Wine Companion

Blackberry and oaky aromas, smoky timber scents overlying cassis and briar; the palate tense and lively with fresh acidity and a slight metallic/mineral note. Intensity and tight-packed concentration. This is somewhat in its shell and needs time to show its colours. It really came alive in the glass, showing its great depth. Cellar, or give it plenty of air.  – 97pts, Huon Hooke for The Real Review

Classical cabernet sauvignon aromas of blackcurrants, tobacco leaves, cedar and graphite. The palate is ultra-refined and polished with seamless tannins and bright acidity, giving notes of raspberries, blueberries, cassia bark and violets. An exceptionally well-crafted and refined wine that will age for decades. Drink or hold. Only five barrels made. Screw cap.
– 97pts, James Suckling

The fruit for this 2022 Carrodus Cabernet Sauvignon was sourced from the 1969-planted Cabernet Sauvignon. The section of the vineyard from which this comes is in the southwest corner. The vines follow a gravel band that crosses through the corner of the block that is slower to mature and is always the last to be picked. The fruit was fermented in small open fermenters, plunged twice daily by hand, pressed to taste and then gravity filled to Bordeaux-shaped French barrels (40% new) for 15 months maturation. So, to the wine. The bouquet is infused with graphite, graphite-like oak, dried tobacco, a hint of black olive tapenade, star anise, salted licorice, bay leaf and cassis. In the mouth, the fruit sparkles with concentration and intensity—it is pure and firm. What a sensational wine. The oak is more pronounced here than it is in the Dry Red No 1 from the same vintage, yet it works so well with the fruit profile that it hardly matters; there is enough density here to subsume the oak at any given time. Very, very good Cabernet. Superlative. 13.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.– 97pts, Erin Larkin for Wine Advocate