Latest reviews

Margaret River

Cabernet Sauvignon

The best wine from these guys yet. This is pure class. The nose is captivating and immediately alluring with its perfumed blackcurrant and dark plum notes with a little liqueur cherry curling in. The palate combines the power and structure of cabernet with a focussed elegance. Slightly mineral and chalky tannins add a final balancing act on the finish.

Margaret River

Cabernet Sauvignon

One of the best of these I have tasted. It’s a beauty. The intensity of the opening salvo of blackcurrant, dark cherry and light graphite on the nose points to what might lay ahead. Yet when you get to the palate it is so elegantly structured and almost supple as it extends to an effortlessly long finish, A thread of...

Great Southern

Syrah

A delightfully fragrant medium bodied syrah sourced from the Great Southern which produced some mighty good fruit in this season. Notes of spice, cherry and plum on the nose with a faint ferrous touch. The palate is really impressive with its medium weight perfectly balanced with fine precise tannins and a light layer of oak. Super value for this.

Margaret River

Cabernet Sauvignon

A cabernet out of Wilyabrup in the heart of the Margaret River dress circle. Intense aromas reveal a wave of blackcurrant and dark plum with a black olive and bay leaf nuance adding another complexity. The palate is so seamlessly crafted with the tannin and oak combination working beautifully with the concentrated fruit. An effortless and elegant style with power.

Great Southern

Pinot Gris

This Great Southern sourced pinot gris has emerge from the heat of the hottest vintage in pretty good shape. Nice aromatics of apple and pear lead through into a textured and smooth palate with a slight viscosity that makes it such good current drinking.

Margaret River

Cabernet Sauvignon

A wine that has garnered quite a following. Like the postman: it always delivers. Blackcurrant with a significant plummy fruit character. This is a firm style, consistent with this vintage in Margaret River. A firm thread of chalky tannin and a decent hit of oak work through the primary blackcurrant and black olive characters of the palate.

Great Southern

Grenache

The boys have gone to the Great Southern to source this grenache. It’s medium bodied in line with contemporary thinking for this variety. Soft supple fruit with a merging of bright red fruits and a slight turned earthy character. Bright and vibrant palate with lots of red fruit following through to a pleasingly long finish.

Margaret River

Chardonnay

One of the best chardonnays yet from these guys. It’s a beauty. Aromas quickly reveal the toasty oak, cashew, butterscotch and mealy nuances that have been built into the wine. The palate delivers a powerful intensity, yet there is an almost crystalline precision and subtle saline edge to balance. Excellent.

Margaret River

Chardonnay

This is made to a consistent style offering plenty for the chardonnay lovers who want a decent bang for their buck. Sourced from Karridale south of Margaret River town, it shows strong mealy butterscotch and stone fruit aromatics. The palate is layered with depth and intensity that is picked up and carried to a long finish.

Margaret River

Chardonnay

This is quite a sophisticated chardonnay for this price. It’s a leaner and more tightly framed wine than you might expect, yet the fruit intensity and prettiness of 2023 emerges. Slightly citrus and a light steely minerality with a chalky acidity provides the keen focus. Lively finish completes a tidy wine.

Margaret River

Cabernet Sauvignon

A beautiful cabernet displaying all the wonderful perfumes and palate structure and fruit intensity you want with this variety. Captures the blackcurrant dominance of cabernet with a little black olive and light graphite. The statuesque palate is beautifully and seamlessly woven into a refined and quite elegant statement of this variety. A very long focused palate completes an excellent wine.

Margaret River

Tempranillo

One of the best and most consistent tempranillos made on this State. The vibrant burst of raspberry leads other red fruit nuances from the outset. A light sprinkle of dried herbs brings another deft touch. The palate is medium bodied with soft supple fruit but supported by a fine chalky tannin thread. Scrumptious wine for pasta or the like.

Margaret River

Tempranillo

Pretty smart little rose made from tempranillo, a variety that always seems to work well as a rose base. Bright red fruits with raspberry and strawberry nuances emerging with some intensity. It’s light bodied but with texture and mouth feel.

Margaret River

Chardonnay

There is a God, when you can get a wine of this quality selling for less than $50. Okay, great vintage, yes, but it's then been really well handled in the winery. Aromas of stone fruit and butterscotch with a little of that primary grapefruit worked in. The palate is a powerhouse yet defined and refined with a keen savoury...

Margaret River

White Blend

This is a blend of sauvignon blanc, semillon and chardonnay, a sort of great white blend, which also has a connection with winemaker Cath Oates close encounter with a Great White shark. This is a zingy little number with the lively SBS supported by the power of Margaret River chardonnay. Gets just a smidgeon of oak add further interest. Leaves...

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...

Margaret River

Verdelho

Ashbrook has been one of the Margaret River champions of this variety from the get-go. It’s a variety I love, especially as an early drinking wine when it’s at its vibrant best. Once again the tropical fruit is evident with a creamy nutty character and that distinct hint of egg cartons. Like this over the next couple of years.

Swan Valley

Red Blend

So bright and lively is this great example of what the Swan Valley can achieve. This is such a beautifully presented wine displaying a lifted mix of plum chocolate fruits on the nose with just a little twist of black pepper. The palate is delightful with a bright lively medium body displaying an exotic mix of cherries and plum with...

Swan Valley

Chardonnay

An appealing fruit driven chardonnay with just enough winemaking influence to take it up a notch. Melon citrus and a little peachy stone fruit on the nose. The palate has good medium weight flavours with a little nutty nuance. Ideal in the next couple of years.

Swan Valley

Shiraz

Shiraz was one of the many varieties to perform so well in the marvellous ’23 vintage. As you might imagine, it’s soft, supple and lush with generous rich fruit flavours. The nose speaks of generous shiraz with plums, spices and a lavish dollop of dark chocolate. Bright and voluptuous and such an enjoyable drink especially in these early years.

Swan Valley

Rose

A beautifully drinkable Swan Valley rose bursting with a real summer fresh berry mixture of red fruits with a crunchy vibrancy. The colour is pale pink, and the aromas are so beautiful, revealing exotic fragrances. The palate finished with a slightly dry savouriness.

Blackwood Valley

Chardonnay

Here is a chardonnay sourced from the Blackwood Valley which has turned out rather well. Immediate aromas of cashew and melon with a little stone fruit richness on the nose. It’s medium weight with generous, largely fruit flavours carrying easily through to a pleasing finish.

Swan Valley

Chenin Blanc

A more restrained and less obviously fruity chenin from the Swan in a season that was so hot. There’s a little fruit sweetness balanced by a crisp acidity to give the palate a precise linear focus, while retaining those nice tropical notes splashed with a little lime.

Swan Valley

Chenin Blanc

Here is a chenin blanc from the heart of the Swan Valley that’s been made into a beautiful example of a sparkling wine. Has a creamy melon character with a subtle roasted nuttiness emerging. The palate is soft and flavoursome with a bright lift that extends through to a completely satisfying finish. Love that lift of melon and cut pear...

Swan Valley

Merlot

Well, you don’t often see wines of this age being released. It provides compelling evidence of the age worthiness of this variety when you get some good fruit quality. The bright fruits of the nose are only just beginning to change into that leathery spicy character of age. The palate has developed really beautifully with a lovely viscous coating accentuating...

Swan Valley

Shiraz

A rather delicious and flavoursome shiraz of generosity and deep intensity. Has such beautiful palate weight with soft tannin and a lick of oak playing deft understated roles. Realy bright colours are captured in the lifted perfume nose and the supple sweet fruit palate.

Swan Valley

Shiraz

This Covid vintage turned out pretty well in the Swan Valley. It was done and dusted in the blink of an eye, producing fruit of great intensity and balance. This is smooth and textured with a mass of dark fruits swirling through a rich and lavishly plush palate. Has a chewy dark chocolate character adding further to the generosity of...

Swan Valley

Cabernet Sauvignon

I have to say this is one of the best Jarrah Ridge wines yet. It’s from the excellent ’23 vintage so that helps, and is reflected in the effortlessly stylish structure and palate presentation. Perfumed red berries with blackcurrant and dark chocolate swirling through the subtle tobacco leaf charaters. Bright and alive palate extends to a focussed long finish.

Swan Valley

Merlot

A slightly less robust and prettier version than the excellent ’22. Bright spicy plum and blackberry with vanillin oak nuances. The palate is medium bodied and totally seamless with a fine merging of fine tannins, subtle oak and quite beautiful fruit. Has a sweet fruit character balanced by a savoury dry finish.

Swan Valley

Merlot

Rather appealing scented aromas of black fruit cake and spicy plum with a layer of sweet vanillin oak. Oodles of dark fruits fill the palate with a plum and spice combination lifted with some fresh blackberries. Smooth medium bodied an immensely appealing.

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.

Swan Valley

Grenache

This a notch up, but not by much, on the very good ’22 vintage. Aromas display those same rose petal and raspberry nuances with a little fresh tuned earthiness. But the palate has a silky-smooth viscosity supported by supple fine tannins and a light touch of oak.

Swan Valley

Grenache

A lighter and elegant medium bodied grenache made in the contemporary style that brings brightness and vibrancy. Perfumed notes of rose petal and raspberry with other red fruits emerging. Smoothly integrated medium bodied palate with so much bright red fruits and a deep layer of dark plum fruit beneath.

Western Australia

Shiraz

The beauty of this wonderful vintage is evident immediately. The brilliance of the colour; the perfumes of the nose; and the vibrancy on the palate. Perfumed plum and blackberry nuances with floral notes and a little spice. The palate is exquisitely crafted and presented with vibrant high energy. One of the best of this line.

Western Australia

Shiraz

Brilliant bright colour radiates from the glass. The nose reveals a mix of blackberry and plum liberally sprinkled with spices. A smooth and textured palate has plenty fruit intensity revealing dark chocolate and ripe plum with a little vanillin oak overlaying.

Western Australia

Shiraz

Perfumed spicy dark plum and cherry aromas greet initially. A little dark chocolate and a slightly savoury element edge in. The palate is soft and supple with attractive sweet fruit flavours balanced by a dry savoury finish.

Margaret River

Cabernet Sauvignon

Most attractive perfumes of violets and seductive red fruits with a lift of light cedar from the oak. It’s immediately captivating. Then the palate does its thing with an exquisite balance holding vibrant bright fruits held with tight cedary oak and silky fine tannins. It’s an elegant and stylish wine of great poise that extends effortlessly to a sustained finish.

Margaret River

Cabernet Sauvignon

Perfumed and highly scented cabernet from what turned out to be a pretty good year after the early heat. Blackcurrant and leafy dark plum with a little oyster shell minerality on the nose. The palate is still tightly held with an angular thread of tannins and tight fine-grained oak. Structured and regal.

Margaret River

Chardonnay

This takes the standard, and almost always exceptional chardonnay, into another zone of complexity and character. The nose displays a deeper concentration of fruit and winemaking artifact with notes of roasted cashew, hazelnut and a lemon curd richness. The palate is layered with an intensity of powerful fruit that finishes with a distinct savoury chalkiness.