Latest reviews

Margaret River

Shiraz

The combination of dark plum, cloves and dark chocolate on the nose gets you ready for the palate. It's deep and generous with supple fruit flavours supported by a fine oak and chalky tannin guide. Has a dry earthy and slightly savoury finish.

Margaret River

White Blend

A really punchy fruit-driven sem sav blanc that captures much of what this style was all about when it first appeared in the region. Loads of vibrant, very much alive tropical fruit with a decent citrus splash. It's got a lively sustaining acidity and it makes for great current drinking.

Margaret River

Chardonnay

A fresher style of chardonnay that highlights the pristine fruit from this vineyard. There's a nice mix of light cashew and grapefruit with a little melony influences. The palate is fine and linear, but with good depth and persistence. Ideal in the short term.

Margaret River

Cabernet Sauvignon

Captures the elegance and style of this vintage in Margaret River. Blackcurrant and dark plum with a chalky bay leaf overlay on the nose. The palate is held with control by fine chalky tannin and tidy oak with the graphite influence emerging as it breathes. Good depth and persistence. Mighty good value here.

Margaret River

Rose

Pale pink colour is so immediately engaging. The combination of grenache and shiraz provides plenty of perfumed red fruit aromas at the outset. Then the soft, light-bodied palate delivers further with a strawberry raspberry combo. Like the dry, slightly savoury chalky finish to keep it fresh and clean.

Great Southern

Rose

This is a beautiful rose displaying so much of that crazy raspberry and red currant character. Light floral notes float across the nose while the light-bodied palate is fresh and vibrant. There's a little watermelon and cranberry with a cute lemon tart edge. A dry savoury finish suits matching with Asian food.

Margaret River

Chardonnay

This is a very fine and elegant style of chardonnay. It's certainly tighter than the M2 but it also has power. It's a departure for Dukes but not for Cane who has worked with this style before. It's made from a number of different clones with a chalky minerality taking the palate through to a very long finish. I particularly...

Great Southern

Riesling

Now firmly established as one of a handful of Australia's greatest rieslings. This is another beautiful wine. It's slightly friendlier than the awesome '22, but lacks nothing in intensity and drive. Fine lift of wet granite, crunchy quartz and fine lemon and spicy pear on the nose. The palate is so complex and intricately woven with passionfruit, guava, green apple...

Great Southern

Shiraz

Ripe and generous with opulent fruit. It certainly is a step up from the very good Single Vineyard shiraz. Loaded with ripe juicy plummy fruit underpinned by a chalky tannin precision. The sweet fruit is given a little boost with the sprinkle of spices and dried herbs, while the French oak management has been right on the money. Smooth and...

Great Southern

Riesling

A lot of interesting things happened to create this outstanding riesling. First there was barrel fermentation and the extended lees contact. It's bone dry and has a flinty and textural feel with some bath salts character. There's a cute mix of lemon rind and spices that releases on the nose and palate. An excellent wine.

Margaret River

Chardonnay

This excellent wine is the result of a barrel selection program. The fruit was whole bunch pressed and wild fermented before going into oak with regular battonage. The Driftwood chardonnays have been very good in recent years and this one from the generous '22 vintage is another. Has a bracing fine fruit character with a cracker seashell edge working with...

Margaret River

Cabernet Sauvignon

This is a refined and beautifully elegant cabernet expressing the best elements of this Margaret River vintage. On the nose there an engaging combination of red currant and blackberry, black olive. A thread of graphite speaks loudly of cabernet while dark blackcurrant fruits with a chocolatey richness build on the palate. Perfectly integrated with fine oak and a chalky tannin...

Margaret River

Chardonnay

Another classy chardonnay under this label. On the nose there's a mix of pear and lemon zest with a little saline purity. The palate is finely presented with a lemon and vanillin character merging with just a trace of lifted honeysuckle blossom. No it's settled a creamy texture is developing on the palate.

Margaret River

Cabernet Sauvignon

Although from this slightly cooler vintage all the character you seek in cabernet is there. The blackcurrant, minty cedary notes and a little black olive. Overriding is a trace of bay leaf and oyster shell minerality. The palate is medium bodied with good intensity and length. Excellent fruit and oak integration.

Peel

Viogner

Distinctive varietal characters reveal on the nose and palate. Apricot and ginger with a light orange blossom note. The palate is controlled and restrained but those varietal characters of spice and ginger emerge. A wine ideal for immediate drinking.

Peel

Malbec

I saw tis a few years ago and in the ensuing years it has developed rather well to be drinking right in its sweet spot now. Blackberry fruit, chocolate and ripe plums all feature in a deep palate intensity. Delivers with medium weight striking a neat oak and tannin balance.

Peel

Shiraz

Not often you see a wine with nine years age on it at release. Yet, here we are, and it shows why cellaring really is a great way to get the best from your wine investment. This is starting to develop the faintest leathery spice character of a secondary stage. But the fruit is still plush and smooth with plenty...

Margaret River

Sauvignon Blanc

This distinctive wine has been a favourite of mine for some years. This one shows a little less overt oak and consequently is a more balanced wine. The lemony oak and lightly tropical fruit have an infusion of lemon zest to lift with a little of that fresh lychee character adding further complexity. It's a beautiful wine with cellaring potential.

Margaret River

Cabernet Sauvignon

Cooler season, but Dukes has been able to coax plenty from this excellent cabernet. Aromas of blackcurrant and black olive with an overlay of bay leaf. The palate is generous and held with a fine minerally acidity and well managed fine-grained oak. Structured and firm with deep flavour intensity.

Margaret River

Chardonnay

A thoroughly beautiful chardonnay expressing this variety with a pristine purity. Highly minerally opening with a little sea spray over the richer notes of nectarine and white peach. On the palate a slice of pear and a little lime add another dimension. Strikes an ideal balance of fruit and oak. One of Dukes' best under this label.

Margaret River

Cabernet Sauvignon

I'm increasingly thinking that 2019 is one of the great sleeper vintages for red wine in Margaret River. Case in point; this beauty which bridges the divide between power and elegance. It's cabernet through and through with a graphite over blackcurrant aroma and a trace of black olive. The palate is firmly defined and structured with tannins and fine-grained oak...

Margaret River

Cabernet Sauvignon

This is a bold and distinctive take on this largely Left Bank variety. The perfumed aromas with their lift of violets and other florals are the stamp of cabernet franc. The palate is powerful and highly linear with chalky ironstone tannins taking it to a very long and defined finish. The firm tannins and oak should support this for extended...

Margaret River

Chardonnay

Adds another dimension to Dukes' Purus chardonnay. The aim is to capture the rich texture of this variety and express it with a deeply layered complexity, while retaining that keen fresh minerally thread. Savoury butterscotch and crème brulee swirl through an engaging palate defined by a keen acid and a little grapefruit to close. Just a beautiful wine.

Margaret River

Cabernet Sauvignon

This is an impressive cabernet from the '21 vintage. It's achieved excellent ripeness and fruit concentration, while retaining the elegance and poise that characterises this vintage. It's brilliant and bright with a stunning luminosity in the glass. Fine chalky tannins and neat support from the oak complete a polished expression of Margaret River in a cool year.

Great Southern

Shiraz

Now, why wouldn't you go to Frankland River if you wanted to source fruit for a syrah-style. It's not made that often and in fact this is first I have tasted. It's mighty good. Perfumed aromas of red fruit, mocha and spicy plum engage immediately on the nose. The palate is plush and plump with dense fruit flavours. It's polished...

Margaret River

Chardonnay

Such a fine and delicately crafted chardonnay. Deep and penetrating aromas of butterscotch, brioche and almond meal, all presented with restraint. The palate has a creamy texture, with notes of quince and honeycomb, but it's held to a keen focus by the fine-grained oak and racy acidity. Very long and controlled palate of great precision is a feature.

Margaret River

Chardonnay

An outstanding Margaret River chardonnay. On the nose it strikes immediately with floral notes mingling with a flinty lemony brioche combination. Stone fruit characters of nectarine and white peach release on the palate with a subtle minerally oyster shell sea spray edge. Lightly charry oak on the finish contributes to a very good chardonnay.

Margaret River

Cabernet Sauvignon

The impact of the malbec on the nose is immediate with its rhubarb-like juby red notes. This is an elegantly crafted wine of medium body displaying attractive red fruit flavours. Freshy fruit within complemented by a chalky sinewy tannin edge. Oak has been well-managed to achieve an ideal balance.

Margaret River

Cabernet Sauvignon

This exceptional blend of shiraz, malbec and tempranillo has been a winner for Deep Woods from the outset, consistently delivering a wine that punches so far above its weight. I've always thought the perfumed lift and sweet fruit of the palate from the tempranillo is the key to it. Another cracker demanding to be drunk. Combines power and elegance.

Margaret River

Shiraz

This comes from a single block in Wilyabrup planted back in '72, so it's one of the oldest in the region. Excellent season has produced fruit of fine balance and poise. It's been captured in this super wine. The nose is fragrant with a spicy, licorice and plummy, blackberry thing happening. The palate has a grainy texture which is simply...

Margaret River

Chardonnay

What a marvelous chardonnay from these guys. At the outset, it's whole bunch pressed and fermented in a combo of new and seasoned French oak before a regime of lees stirring. Has a fine mineral thread with an engaging combination of light char, cracked seashell and sea spray on the nose. The palate is precise but relentlessly long and intense....

Margaret River

Cabernet Sauvignon

A more lightly framed wine than previous vintages but one that is so refined and elegantly poised. Blackcurrant and bay leaf with a little oyster shell minerality on the nose. The palate reveals other nuances of black fruits, with a chalky limestone and a slightly wet cement character. It's still very tight and will need some time to break free....

Margaret River

Rose

Now firmly established a one of Australia's foremost roses. Pale onion skin colour is classically modern rose. The aromas are all strawberry and cherry. The palate offers texture on its light frame creating such an enticing current drinking wine. A wine that really sings with energy and vibrance.

Margaret River

Sauvignon Blanc

Just a little barrel fermentation has transformed this from the normal fruit-bomb style into a wine of sophistication and style, while still allowing the punchy savvy fruit to display its virtues. Typical characters of passionfruit, gooseberry and a little snow pea are lifted with a little of the lemony oak influence. A really attractive wine to drink while it is...

Margaret River

Chardonnay

A distinctly fruit-driven chardonnay but one with a little winemaking influence to introduce a subtle complexity. Melony stone fruit on the nose with a palate that has a creamy richness. It's had six months on lees after wild yeast fermentation and this has introduced a rich textural feel. Ideal wine for the next few years

Margaret River

Cabernet Sauvignon

A blend dominated by bright red fruits. It's medium bodied in line with this cooler vintage but there is good fruit intensity. It's balanced with fine chalky tannins and a light layer of oak. As it breathes more of the delicious chewy flavours emerge.

Margaret River

Sauvignon Blanc

Everything and everything in its place. This is a wonderful blend of sauvignon blanc and semillon, of which 74% of the savvy is matured for six months in new French oak. But here's the thing, the oak just sits patiently in the background without ever intruding, but still playing a role. Displays a pristine purity and vitality on the nose...

Margaret River

Rose

If it's a red variety, it is almost certainly in this stunning modern rose. Basically, all the red varieties grown at Cullen have been included and naturally fermented and made using the saignee method of bleeding off some of the red wine juice. It results in a wine which is light bodied but with good structural intensity. Lifted aromas of...

Margaret River

Cabernet Sauvignon

This is heady stuff pushing a Margaret River cabernet into the rarefied air of Grange and Hill of Grace and at the same time making a statement about this great cabernet region. The fruit was naturally fermented and then had 13 weeks in terracotta amphorae before pressing to second fill oak. So, the oak influence is subdued but important in...

Margaret River

Chardonnay

The approach to viticulture and then winemaking means that this wonderful chardonnay from the 2022 vintage is as pure as you can get. It all sort of just happens under the umbrella of a fastidious and rigorously uncompromising biodynamic discipline. The aromas are immediately complex and engaging with traces of talc and lime, a little pear and some nice roasted...