CHAPTER 19 | 1946–1949 – Return to Normality
vinestock material in the early 1830s. But this story may well be a myth because most of the early vinestock material appears to have come from the eastern Australian states. Houghton’s planted cabernet around 1894 in the Swan Valley and then again in the 1930s. Australian burgundy, much of it based on shiraz, had been a runaway success during the late 19th century to around the mid-1920s. Most cabernet was blended away into claret or burgundy styles, exemplified by inky richness and fine-grained tannins, although there were a few important 19th-century vineyards that were still in production, notably the Barossa’s Kalimna Vineyard (1888) and Langhorne Creek’s Metala Vineyard (1891). One of the most intriguing wines of this period was the 1948 Penfolds Kalimna Cabernet Sauvignon, which was made from Block 42 1880s-planted cabernet sauvignon. The Reynell Selection Cabernet Sauvignon, vinestock derived from Carew Reynell’s selections during the early 1900s, likely derives from genetic material from Camden Nurseries. In 1845, John Reynell had ordered vine cuttings from William Macarthur, including ‘1000 Scyras, 1000 Carbenet Sauvignon and 1000 Malbec’. The original cabernet sauvignon vinestock was brought out by the Frenchman Didier Numa Joubert in 1837 and planted at Camden Vineyards. Macarthur’s testimony of this material ‘being amongst the most valuable of our acquisitions’ suggests that he propagated these vines for commercial advantage. Renowned for its intensity and concentration, Reynell Selection Cabernet Sauvignon is widely planted in Coonawarra and is a longstanding component of Parker Coonawarra First Growth and present in many others, including Wynn’s Coonawarra Estate John Riddoch Cabernet Sauvignon. It was also distributed through McLaren Vale, where it would prove quite successful.
The Reynella selection is a mass selection traceable to the Reynella vineyard (in the Southern Vales) planted in the 1840s. It is generally low yielding, but can produce inconsistent yields from season to season and performs
better in warmer years. – Nick Dry, viticulturalist
. . . The Dorrien clone of cabernet sauvignon, or Dorrien Selection, is possibly related to cuttings sent by Camden Nurseries to Joseph Gilbert at Pewsey Vale in 1847, although it may have been sourced through other agencies, including Reynella itself. As was normal, vinestock material was regularly propagated by vignerons and nurseries, so the exact trail is not clear. According to Christopher
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