Cabernet Blend

Margaret River

Cabernet Blend

Oh yeah. I expected this to be good and it has delivered. I see the power and concertation of 2018 and the elegance of 2019 with the restraint of 2017. Beautiful, perfumed fruit with tremendous intensity. The palate is seamless with a velvety feel to it. So vibrant with an energy and drive that takes it effortlessly to a very...

Mount Barker

Cabernet Blend

This is 65% Block 7, which produced the prettiest fruit on the property, and about 35% old vine malbec, off vines that are 25 years old. Deep dark colour. The nose has a slightly turned earth and meaty aromas with bright red fruits. Dark fruits in the middle palate with tremendous depth and concentration but it’s smooth and seamless. A...

Geographe

Cabernet Blend

This was from an exceptional vintage throughout Western Australia. It is now a wine that bridges the divide between the primary fruit stage and the more mature early developed stage. It is drinking quite brilliantly. Has a slightly spicy and leathery aroma which merges with the primary dark fruits. The palate has a spicy touch to lift the generous medium...

Margaret River

Cabernet Blend

This takes the excellent ’22 into a slightly more ethereal zone. Perfumes of tobacco leaf, black fruits and slightly minerally ironstone nuances. The palate has real character with fine chalky tannins and such precise oak handling combining to bring it all together. There’s a slightly earthy meaty depth here. Such extraordinary value for this class.

Geographe

Cabernet Blend

A thoroughly beautiful example of this blend from what turned out to be a very good vintage. Highly aromatic with lifted blackcurrant and chocolaty bay leaf. The medium weight and perfectly balanced palate reveals more plummy spicy characters augmented with richer dark chocolate. It’s a smooth and elegant wine of some class.

Margaret River

Cabernet Blend

Highly perfumed aromas of plum and blackcurrant highlight the contributions of these excellent bedfellows. The palate is soft and supple, with generous opulent fruit characters emerging. It’s medium bodied but loaded with all manner of juicy plump fruit, making it such an enjoyable medium-term wine. The slightly chalky tannin influence completes the picture.

Geographe

Cabernet Blend

This was such a good year that even wines in the budget zone offer so much enjoyment. This one ticks all the drinkability boxes and then a few more. Bright vibrant red fruits delivered with a medium body. Plummy blackcurrant with a mix of minerals and dried herbs supported by a thread of chalky tannin. Rather scrumptious.

Margaret River

Cabernet Blend

A wine that always stacks up really well using this established Australian combination. Plenty of punchy red fruits with some darker plummy notes. It’s medium bodied with a smooth and soft palate supported with gentle tannins and understated oak. A wine for short term drinking.

Margaret River

Cabernet Blend

An appealing medium bodied blend of dominant cabernet with merlot and petit verdot bringing their influences to the mid palate. Has a lifted aroma of blackcurrant and typical bay leaf on the nose with the faintest thread of graphite. The palate is focused and controlled with firmish fine tannins and a little oak holding the line through to a nice...

Margaret River

Cabernet Blend

Has been one of the standout performers in this tasting over many years. From the super 23 vintage, this is a perfectly presented blend with loads of medium bodied sweet fruit balanced with a sliver of oak and a fine gentle tannin influence.

Margaret River

Cabernet Blend

Wow. You won’t be able to put this one down. Exotic perfumes of bright red berries with a little minerally earthy nuance before the final lift of violet showing the subtle influence of a small amount of cabernet franc. The palate is pure indulgence with supple fruit wrapped around a fine thread of tannin and a gentle touch of oak....

Margaret River

Cabernet Blend

The smooth and powerful elegance of this great Margaret River vintage is on display in this excellent example of the year. It is a typically tighter and more restrained expression with a close-knit of fine chalky tannins and fine-grained oak. It’s in the medium-bodied zone with a long almost, effortlessly presented finish.

Margaret River

Cabernet Blend

This is cabernet from some of the older vines in the region, with the addition of small amounts of petit verdot, cabernet franc and merlot. It’s a most stylish wine from a vintage that tended to produce wines of a more linear framework. Lifted notes of bay leaf and black olive float across the typical blackcurrant and a little oyster...

Swan Valley

Cabernet Blend

A generous and robust full-bodied wine that is very much a product of the vintage. Dense black fruits with a sweet plummy richness. The palate is a mass of dark chocolate, dark plum with fruit cake and blackberry. Fine tannins and a sliver of oak contribute to a smooth and balanced palate.

Great Southern

Cabernet Blend

A wine that always delivers, year in and year out. In fact, if you want value for money with a touch of class, this one is right on the money. Dark plum and blackcurrant with a drizzle of chocolate open on the nose. The palate is bright and fruity with a neat controlling thread of oak and tannin. A good...

Margaret River

Cabernet Blend

A Bordeaux blend using largely cabernet sauvignon with merlot and cabernet franc. Cabernet provides the power and linear structure while the merlot adds palate filling and the franc that little lift of perfumed red fruit on the nose. Such a poised and well-balanced wine with bright red fruits working with slightly grainy sinewy tannins and a nice oak touch. Everything...

Margaret River

Cabernet Blend

A most elegant and stylish expression of this blend. Highly scented aromas of violet, red berry and leafy blackcurrant. The palate is powerfully structured but with the finesse of fine tannins and fine-grained oak working in harmony. There’s a thread of minerality adding to that core taking it through to a sustained finish.

Margaret River

Cabernet Blend

Comes from a very good season for red wines. Quite a firm statement yet there is deep fruit sweetness balanced by fine tannins and oak. Notes of blackcurrant and mulberry with a little black olive nuanced in there. The palate is medium weight with a firmish core driving to a long finish.

Margaret River

Cabernet Blend

A really beautiful example of this blend. The quality of the fruit from this vintage is evident from the get-go. Blackcurrant and mulberry with a little richer fruit cake opulence and just a faint hint of minerality. The palate is smooth and medium bodied with a plush mouth feel. This screams for drinking in the next few years while those...

Margaret River

Cabernet Blend

A really stylish cabernet dominant blend from this excellent season. Has a leafy blackcurrant aroma with a little blackberry and rich fruit cake. The palate is still pretty tight, but it has excellent structure with a firm thread of tannins holding the line and supported by a decent hit of oak. Needs a little more time to begin to show...

Blackwood Valley

Cabernet Blend

This is a soft and supple cabernet dominant blend from the Blackwood Valley. Has the distinctive regional plushness and volume of fruit with deep blackberry and dark plum characters emerging. Has good structure with fine grainy tannins and a nice touch of oak to assist.

Margaret River

Cabernet Blend

The brightness of this cooler vintage is evident immediately on the nose. Lifted dark fruit with a little black olive and bay leaf infusion burst out. It’s a blend of largely cabernet with small contributions of malbec, merlot and cabernet franc. An elegantly framed wine of effortless style. The palate is sublimely integrated with the bright fruit given some nice...

Margaret River

Cabernet Blend

Flavoursome medium bodied cabernet blend displaying the fruit generosity of this vintage. Ripe blackcurrant and mulberry aromas with a little savoury plummy character edging in. The palate is packed with ripe black fruit and a little red fruit lift. Subtle leaf and seashell minerally play their role in a smoothly finished young wine.

Margaret River

Cabernet Blend

A bit of Bordeaux and a bit of Hermitage all comes together in this mighty powerful expression of the region. It’s a substantial wine loaded with deep dark secrets, which with a little prodding reveal intense liqueur cherry, blackcurrant and layers of chocolate and mulberry. Aromas of bay leaf and graphite emerge with a cedary addition. The palate is drive...

Margaret River

Cabernet Blend

An elegant and stylish blend of cabernet and merlot from this cooler Margaret River vintage. Lifted perfumes of red berry and bay leaf with edgier notes of black olive. This is still a tightly held wine with fine firm tannins and fine-grained oak supporting the fruit with its minerally subtle oyster shell characters. It’s a wine under wraps that needs...

Margaret River

Cabernet Blend

A succulent and rather delicious red blend displaying really attractive fruit emerging from the combination of cabernet and merlot. Perfumes of red berry, savoury plum and a little charcuterie emerge. The palate is neatly integrated with chalky tannin and fine-grained oak partnering the fruit. Really lively and vibrant. Just beautiful palate features.

Margaret River

Cabernet Blend

A blend of cabernet sauvignon, malbec, cabernet franc, petit verdot and merlot. It’s a medium bodied product of this cooler vintage, yet there is an intensity and concentration of fruit that presents beautifully from the nose though to the balanced palate. Bright red and black fruits with a delightful perfume open on the nose. The palate is an intricate weave...

Margaret River

Cabernet Blend

A delightfully friendly medium-bodied blend. Reveals bright red berry on the nose with a little leafy minerally character. The vibrant fruits are supported by slightly chalky tannins and a little oak. Has a nice energy about it.

Margaret River

Cabernet Blend

This turned out to be a pretty good vintage for red wine. It was short and quick and with Covid everyone got stuck in. This is cabernet dominant but with important contributions from equal parts merlot and cabernet franc, which play out on the nose. Highly perfumed with floral violet notes. The palate is beautifully weighted with a fine chalky...

Margaret River

Cabernet Blend

This is a delightfully fragrant medium bodied blend of cabernet sauvignon merlot cabernet franc and malbec. Nice red fruits on the nose with a leafy seashell character. The palate is fine balanced with a lifted chalky red fruit combination harnessed with fine grained oak. Bright and vibrant wine ideal in the shorter term.

Margaret River

Cabernet Blend

This is one of the best of this plush red designed for grabbing hold of drinking in the first five years. Loads of ripe black fruits with that red fruit malbec influence. It’s fragrant initially then on the palate the warm dark fruit takes over with a blackcurrant and slightly raspberry jubey character edging in. Really delicious great value wine.

Frankland River

Cabernet Blend

An elegantly structured wine from this cooler vintage. Beautiful, scented aromas of plum and spices with a little red berry character. The palate is so neatly integrated with those perfect bedfellows of cabernet and malbec knitting together harmoniously. The silky tannins and fine-grained oak provide a velvety smooth and vibrant palate. A little minerally seashell-like character adds to the finish.

Perth Hills

Cabernet Blend

This is really quite beautiful. A partial Bordeaux blend from a warmish season although one that finished somewhat milder suiting these later ripening varieties. Blackcurrant, blackberry and dark chocolate with a slightly leafy floral perfume. The palate is plush and firm with the polished tannins and fine-grained oak holding\ a tight line through to the finish. Certainly, handle cellaring.

Geographe

Cabernet Blend

A smooth and supple easy drinking blend offering plenty of soft and supple fruit supported by the firm thread of cabernet with fine tannins and a subtle lick of oak. Plenty of appealing blackcurrant and dark spicy plum characters. A wine designed for earlier drinking.

South Australia

Cabernet Blend

This is a commemorative release wine that marks the 180th anniversary of the birth of Penfolds. Effectively a special bin wine similar to the Bin 620 in 1966 and the Bin 920. It’s 57 % cabernet and the remainder shiraz and looking at French oak only. All the oak is one year old to suit the weight and the style...

South Australia

Cabernet Blend

Another famous multi-regional blend from McLaren Vale, Coonawarra, the Barossa Valley, Padthaway and Wrattonbully. The colour is so deep and dark. Loads of dark plum and chocolate nuanced in the complex aromas with traces of cigar box tobacco leaf and spice. The palate is rich and densely concentrated but delivered with poise and restraint. Lifted black fruits on the palate...

Cabernet Blend

This is a combination of 91% cabernet sauvignon and 9% cabernet franc from the Napa Valley and South Australia. It’s a wine of generosity and volume with abundant ripe fruit on the nose immediately assailing. An engaging weave of black fruits open with lifted pepper and savoury dried herbs emerging. The palate shows plenty of black fruits, dark chocolate and...

Cabernet Blend

This is a 78% cabernet dominant wine from a single vineyard in the Napa Valley. The colour is incredibly deep with an almost black opaqueness. The aromas show lifted black fruits with a lifted perfumed aromatics. This gets 100% new French oak, and yet the palate has taken it up easily. It’s an effortlessly long and defined wine. Minerally notes...

Cabernet Blend

This is a blend of cabernet sauvignon, petit verdot and merlot from vineyards in Bordeaux. FWT stands for French Winemaking Trial. The colour is deep purple and crimson with a brilliant ruby red. The nose opens with an engaging mix of berries, dried herbs and slightly brioche-like characters. The palate is neatly tied together revealing a slightly gravelly stony character...

Margaret River

Cabernet Blend

This was a very hot vintage early on, but then things became a little milder, which suited these late ripening varieties such as cabernet. Bright and alive with blackcurrant, chocolate and deep plum characters. A trace of oyster shell minerality and a little black olive edge make important complementing contributions. Strikes a great oak and tannin balance for what is...