Latest reviews

Margaret River

Semillon Sauvignon Blanc

Year in and year out, this remains one of my favourite sauvignon blanc sémillon blends, albeit with an important inclusion of chardonnay and chenin, which completes what is always an impeccably made wine. It has structure, fruit intensity and tremendous appeal, with lots of lovely, crunchy tropical fruit on the nose and through the palate. It was a warm year,...

Margaret River

Chardonnay

Sourced from some of the southernmost vineyards of Cape Mentelle and picked early to avoid the heat of 2024, this wine proves you shouldn't judge a vintage without knowing the details. It's an incredibly delicate and fine style, capturing powerful, concentrated intensity with refined delicacy. Minerally, lemony notes appear on the nose, while the palate builds slowly through the middle...

Margaret River

Cabernet Sauvignon

So this is predominantly cabernet, but then there's a small component of merlot and cabernet franc - small but important. There's an impressive purity and refinement about this cabernet that says much about the season, which was particularly kind and the vineyards, which are now quite mature. It's refined and elegant, and it's had 18 months in French oak, but...

Margaret River

Cabernet Sauvignon

In many ways, it was cabernet sauvignon from Cape Mentelle that put this pioneering producer on the map and indeed Margaret River. This is certainly one of the better recent vintages and one of the better examples of Cape Mentelle cabernet. It's an elegant, stylish and almost medium to full-bodied wine that reveals so much to like about Margaret River...

Margaret River

Cabernet Sauvignon

You're getting a decent bang for your buck with this value-for-money cabernet. Displays bright red fruits on the nose with some scented violet notes. The dark berry characters of the palate express perfectly what is cabernet sauvignon in Margaret River, with a little subtle bay leaf and graphite. Colour is quite brilliant and bright, and the whole package expresses with...

Margaret River

Red Blend

A blend of malbec, cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon and petit verdot from the wonderful 2023 season. Captures the vibrancy and energy of the fruit with clever winemaking which includes co-fermentation, basket pressing and a quite high percentage of new French oak that seems to integrate easily within the powerful fruit. Seamless and textured palate with a slightly grainy texture that...

Margaret River

Chardonnay

This comes from a single vineyard east of Cowaramup, with the handpicked fruit being pressed directly to French oak for a cool fermentation and full malolactic. It was left on lees without sulphur with regular lees stirring. It is an impressive wine with aromas of brioche and crunchy biscuit with a savoury creamy stone fruit character. The palate has a...

Porongurup

Pinot Noir

A tribute to Castle Rock’s founders, Wendy and Angelo, this is an exquisitely crafted wine of polish, texture, and depth. The colour is luminous and alive, belying its lightness with a driving intensity. Tannins and oak are finely tuned, harnessing the fruit into a wine that is focused and long through the palate. Despite the warmth of the vintage, the...

Porongurup

Pinot Noir

A different expression from the standard pinot at Castle Rock, this wine reflects greater winemaking influence. Hand-picked and whole bunch fermented, it opens with perfumed aromas of cherry and strawberry. The colour is lighter, yet the wine possesses immense power. Fine chalky tannins and neatly integrated oak carry the wine through to an endlessly long finish. Classy and structured, with...

Porongurup

Pinot Noir

Rob Diletti has proven himself one of the state’s finest winemakers, particularly in his handling of pinot noir. This shows elegance, with slightly savoury, truffly characters and vibrant fruit purity. Aromas of strawberry and cherry lead into a palate that rolls effortlessly, supported by fine tannins and well-integrated oak. Fleshy and textural, while retaining fine acidity. A testament to skilled...

Margaret River

Red Blend

This is the pinnacle of McHenry Hohnen’s thoroughbred stable. It’s a blend of around 57% cabernet, 36% malbec, and the remainder petit verdot. This combination has worked extremely well over the years. The 2020 vintage offered great fruit concentration and power, and this wine exemplifies that, though with the regional character of southern Margaret River, it achieves balance and refinement....

Margaret River

Cabernet Sauvignon

No question, for me, this is the best Hazels Vineyard cabernet sauvignon produced to date. The 2020 vintage was short and sharp, delivering fruit of great intensity and power. This wine captures all of that but, with the southern regional influence, presents it with elegance and refined charm. It has all the typical blackcurrant, slightly oyster shell southern Margs character,...

Margaret River

Chardonnay

Just like the Calgardup Brook Vineyard chardonnay, this wine also expresses a distinctive vineyard character, and it has long been one of my favourite chardonnays. It shows greater intensity of fruit, and while some characters are a little more forward, the structure and fine balance remain classically chardonnay. This vintage shows a slightly more minerally, finer, grapefruity citrus character than...

Margaret River

Chardonnay

This is a wine that always shows the distinctive character of this vineyard. It’s a finer, tighter, and leaner style of chardonnay, but it still carries tremendous intensity and fruit concentration, perfectly harnessed. There’s a crisp, minerally, spicy citrus character, with a trace of lemon curd and grapefruit. A slightly salty sea spray note adds further complexity. An excellent wine.

Margaret River

Chardonnay

This is a superb chardonnay, and, despite some excellent previous vintages, I reckon this is as good as any that’s been released. It’s fine and delicate, but it carries tremendous, precise intensity, with beautifully integrated oak and fruit. There’s a light honeycomb and stone fruit character, with a touch of grapefruit, and yet nothing dominates. It simply knits together where...

Margaret River

Chardonnay

This is a wine that, in the last few years, has lifted into another zone, and in this vintage it's showing real intensity of fruit, combined with fine, precise focus and remarkable length. It's a delicately framed chardonnay with a fine chalky character that threads through lemony grapefruit and light melon notes. The palate is fine, precise, and sustained, with...

Margaret River

Cabernet Franc

This is a slightly firmer style of cabernet franc, which you probably expect from this warmer season, and yet it carries the bright perfumes that are synonymous with this variety—slightly floral, a little violet, and a touch of plumminess. The palate is generous, but perhaps more in the medium-bodied zone, and it delivers with a degree of subtlety and finesse...

Margaret River

Petit Verdot

The first thing you notice here is the deep, opaque, reddy-black colour which speaks very much of petit verdot. It's a variety that needs ideal conditions and a little warmth to ripen, and 2023 suited it perfectly. Intense aromas of blackberry and plum, and a palate which has the petit verdot firmness, but wrapped around is some plush flesh that...

Margaret River

Red Blend

This blend of cabernet, malbec and petit verdot has been a consistent winner for Victory Point over the years, consistently delivering quality at a valued price. Needless to say, from this outstanding season, this has to be one of the best yet released. Captures all the essential fruit characters of these varieties, with the linear structure of cabernet, the flesh...

Margaret River

Pinot Noir

Margaret River is often overlooked for the quality of its pinots, and in a year like 2022 where the fruit was intense, pinot is well suited. It's been expertly crafted, with aromas of sour cherry, light red berry, and an ever-so-faint truffly character. The palate has a nice grainy texture, with a lifted acidity that drives it through to a...

Margaret River

Chardonnay

These chardonnays from Victory Point over recent years have started to reach into the top echelon in Margaret River, and this is another cracking example. The aromas are intense, and the palate deeply concentrated, yet delivered with a fine, linear style. On the nose, distinctly lemon meringue, grapefruit, a trace of cashew, and some slightly dusty, chalky notes. The palate...

Margaret River

Cabernet Blend

This is another excellent value-for-money quality drink. It's sourced from Margaret River, and captures the best of these two varieties, with the strength and blackcurrant nuances of the cabernet and the plush fleshiness of the merlot sitting snugly together to produce a generous, medium-bodied and highly flavoursome red wine ideal for drinking in the medium term.

Swan Valley

Red Blend

If you're looking for soft, supple and generous red wine drinking on a budget, it's pretty hard to go past this excellent combination of these two varieties from the Swan Valley. It has a nice aroma of plummy spiciness with a lifted rose petal nuance. The palate is vibrant, punchy and medium-bodied, and loaded with flavour. Excellent drinking over the...

Frankland River

Shiraz

This is a Frankland River shiraz from the Acacia vineyard. It shows ironstone and dark plummy fruit, with blackberry and dark plum richness. It’s deep, concentrated and plush, with firm yet fine tannins. The oak is largely Taransaud five-year seasoned oak. It has a textured, plush mouthfeel with a chalkiness that provides definition and balance. It’s brilliantly bright with powerful...

Western Australia

Red Blend

There are lots of different varieties here: tempranillo, montepulciano, shiraz, nero d’avola, grenache, mencía and arinto. I don't expect you to find the subtle nuances of each variety, but what you will find is a wine that is supremely balanced and integrated, with a fine, silky, velvety palate and great depth of flavour that is wonderfully sustained. It's bright and...

Swan Valley

Shiraz

If you ever wanted an example of how good shiraz from the Swan Valley can be, here is a perfect wine. It illustrates the wonderful soft, supple fruit of Swan Valley shiraz, beautifully captured in what was a stunning year. This is as good as any shiraz I’ve seen from the Valley over the last few years. It's soft, it's...

Swan Valley

Red Blend

The first thing you notice is the colour—brilliant crimson and ruby red hues. The nose is all swirling red berries with lifted perfumed florals. On the palate, the three varieties combine in a mix of red berry, cherry and spice, with just a little sprinkling of dried herbs. It's medium-bodied with a fine thread of chalky tannin and a gentle...

Geographe

Arneis

This is an excellent wine from a single vineyard in the Geographe area. It's made entirely from the Italian arneis variety and displays a lovely mix of light florals, restrained stone fruit, dried herbs, and a light citrus note on the edge. It's light-bodied, but there’s an intensity of flavour that carries and builds through to its sustained finish. A...

Swan Valley

Rose

As rosés go, this one absolutely nails it. It's an interesting mix of grenache, tempranillo and cournoise. It's pale pink, lightly onion-skinned, and quite brilliant in colour. The nose shows a lovely light red berry and red apple mix, and the palate, while light-bodied, has a lovely texture and mouthfeel, sustained to a long finish by crisp, fine acidity. A...

Swan Valley

Chenin Blanc

It was a good year for chenin in the Swan Valley, and this stacks up with any yet released from Nicola. It's balanced, has great flavour, and shows wonderful length. This captures everything you want in the variety. On the nose, you get a mix of melon and light citrus, while on the palate there’s a crunchy, crisp acidity sustaining...

Swan Valley

White Blend

This is a wonderful blend of chenin blanc, verdelho, chardonnay and sémillon from the Swan Valley. It was such a good season and has produced fruit that is generous, refined and impeccably balanced. There are loads of stone fruits and citrus swirling through it, along with a sort of crunchy, apple-pear-like character that runs deep. Seamless, balanced, and just perfect...

Margaret River

Chardonnay

This is an outstanding chardonnay and quite frankly one of the very best I've ever seen from Cape Mentelle. It comes off Block 10 on the Chapman Brook Vineyard, which is now more than 30 years old. After hand-picking, it was pressed with wild fermentation in oak and then aged for a further 10 months. The result is a wine...

Margaret River

Cabernet Sauvignon

The 2022 vintage in Margaret River was initially underrated to some extent, but increasingly the quality of wines being produced and released shows just what a good season it was. This is another excellent wine that's made in a largely traditional way. The nose delivers typical, right-on-the-money Margaret River, blackcurrant, black olive and a little bay leaf. There's just a...

Margaret River

Malbec

Gosh I do like this wine. Malbec has become one of my favourite varietals since it started to stand up on its own and no longer be part of a blend as it usually is with cabernet. This one is so beautifully presented, with lovely aromatics of mulberry and red fruits and a little leafiness adding complexity. It's soft, it's...

Frankland River

Shiraz

A mighty impressive wine that Gordon sources from the shiraz powerhouse of WA. It's generous, it's supple, it's opulent but it's all controlled and balanced. Typical of the season and in the Jeremy Gordon style of winemaking. All those spicy plum, dark cherry, and even a little green olive work tirelessly on the nose. Once you delve into the palate,...

Frankland River

Shiraz

What a good wine this one is. Gordon gets it from Frankland as he has done for many years, recognising how good this region can be, and this is certainly one of the best. The season was pretty good and it's produced a wine of deep complexity and rich flavours with a mighty combination of plum and cherry and some...

Margaret River

Grenache

This excellent grenache from this excellent season comes off one of the oldest grenache vineyards in Margaret River. Typically, fragrant and perfumed with that rose petal, cherry and raspberry combination. Offset with a little dusty, dry earth and leather. Palate is supple, medium-bodied, with tremendous length and precision. Lots of dark fruits and ripe berries, and harnessed with just the...

Margaret River

Cabernet Blend

This is consistently one of the best sub-$20 wines on the market. It harnesses these logical bedfellows with the firmness of the cabernet and the fleshy richness of merlot coming together perfectly. Loads of ripe fruit displaying a little blackcurrant and fleshier plumminess with just a little spicy dried herb and even a touch of coffee grind. Balanced, seamless and...

Frankland River

White Varietal

This is one of the most distinctive of all white grape varieties, with its typical gingery lychee characters that reveal on both the nose and the palate. It can sometimes be a little too much, but a combination of controlled winemaking and an excellent season has harnessed these sometimes overt characters to present them perfectly. The palate is flavoursome with...

Margaret River

Semillon Sauvignon Blanc

From the get-go the immediate pungency of generous semillon and sauvignon blanc in perfect sync is obvious. Loads of stone fruit and gooseberry with a little passion fruit edginess combined neatly. The palate is flavoursome with a refreshing, clean acidity to sustain. It's a wine that's ideally suited for drinking over the next couple of years while it retains its...