Regions

Margaret River

Malbec

The colour of this wine is quite extraordinary. It’s so deep, dark, and dense, and yet it retains an elegance and vibrant lift that speaks of this variety. Extended skin contact and maturation in French oak deliver a rich dark fruit core lifted by rhubarb crumble and savoury floral notes. An excellent wine.

Margaret River

Chardonnay

A precise, neatly crafted chardonnay with a linear structure. Aromas of lemon, grapefruit, and a trace of cumquat. The palate has lift and intensity, with flavour building into a long finish. Dry savoury notes complete a very tidy wine.

Margaret River

Chardonnay

Here’s a wine that shows a degree of sophistication. It was wild-yeast fermented and then partially malolactic fermented, so it’s produced a level of complexity. The aromas show nutty cashew, stone fruit and slightly savoury characters. Then the palate reveals more, with its rich textural feel delivering a little crème brûlée, lemon meringue and quince paste character. A fine, minerally...

Margaret River

Tempranillo

Pale pink yet brilliant in colour. Perfumed notes of strawberry and watermelon with a subtle savoury edge. The palate is light-bodied, textured, and flavoursome, with a dry finish. Excellent style.

Margaret River

Tempranillo

Crisp, fresh, pure and crunchy, this light-bodied rosé captures all the lovely ethereal red fruits of tempranillo. Light raspberry and savoury influences work neatly together. The palate is dry, with a savouriness about it and a crunchy crispness, with subtle watermelon notes. Lightly textured with a lingering pure fruit character. Nice current-drinking rosé.

Margaret River

Sauvignon Blanc

Plenty of punch and tropical passionfruit on the nose with this excellent savvy from this excellent season. A little barrel fermentation and further maturation have introduced a degree of textural complexity and mouthfeel that sets this apart from your normal run-of-the-mill savvy. Beautifully bright and energetic. A little drizzle of citrus, and it all hangs in there to produce a...

Margaret River

Cabernet Franc

Always one of my favourites from Cape Grace. This slightly cooler vintage has suited this highly perfumed variety, highlighting the delightful scents of red fruits and violets. A hands-on approach coaxes the best from the fruit. Open fermentation, hand plunging and basket pressing gently tease the succulent red fruits into a seamless and velvety smooth palate. Has potential to cellar...

Margaret River

Cabernet Franc

The beautiful, lifted aromatics that are cabernet franc emerge immediately on the nose. Lovely bright red fruits with those slightly African violet notes and a touch of liqueur, chocolate and cherry. The palate is seamlessly medium weight but with good depth, displaying wonderful liqueured fruit characters. It has good tannins and some nice oak integration. It's a well-managed wine.

Margaret River

Cabernet Franc

The most beautiful and pretty cabernet franc from this season, which, with its cooler, longer ripening period, certainly suited the variety. Aromas show some nice perfumed red fruits, raspberry and cherry. And then the palate is so seamlessly soft and supple, with finely integrated chalky tannins and neatly understated oak that allows the fruit to fully express itself. Finishes with...

Margaret River

Cabernet Sauvignon

An impressive wine that captures much of what this early generous vintage was all about. Released after a little extra time in the cellar, which has allowed everything to knit together beautifully to reveal its best characters., It’s classically cabernet with that combination of chocolaty blackcurrant, bay leaf and black olive cut with a fine thread of oyster shell minerality....

Margaret River

Cabernet Sauvignon

This was a cooler year in Margaret River, and like so many of the cabernet sauvignons from this vintage, it's taken a while for this to come together. But it's now drinking in its ideal zone, but of course with cellaring potential. Blackcurrant, graphite and dark chocolate nuances dominate the nose. The palate is seamlessly integrated, with fine-grained tannins, and...

Margaret River

Cabernet Sauvignon

A classic Aussie combo bursting with vibrant high-tone fruit from the perfumed nose through to the driven palate. Plush black fruits with a slightly bay leaf and graphite minerality cut through the mid palate. Has an effortless and almost languid palate feel that extends easily without fuss to a long finish.

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

What an excellent example of this combination. It's a 50/50 split, and it was made in a traditional way with open fermentation, hand plunging, basket pressing and then maturation in some French oak. It's medium weight, beautifully perfumed and stylishly composed, with a fine thread of chalky tannin and just subtle oak intervention. It's a great value-for-money wine too. Ideal...

Margaret River

Malbec

This small batch production is always one of my favourites. It's made in traditional fashion with open fermentation and hand plunging which suits the soft red fruits. The palate is medium bodied but with beautiful blackberry and subtle blue fruits with a trace of mulberry. Such a vibrant and vital wine ideal in the short term but with some ageing...

Margaret River

Malbec

This small vineyard has produced some excellent malbec over the years and this one from this wonderful year is as good as any I've tasted. It's a relatively small production wine that was open fermented, hand plunged and basket pressed, so it's a real get-in-there-get-dirty type of winemaking. It received 25% new oak and typically shows those riper blackberry notes,...

Margaret River

Malbec

I've always liked these malbecs from Cape Grace. And this is a small-production wine of low-yielding vines, made in a traditional way, but then aged in 50% new French oak. The oak in no way intrudes and allows the fruit, with its blue and black fruit characters and a little mulberry, to fully express itself. There's a bright red-fruit lift,...

Margaret River

Cabernet Sauvignon

It's nice to be able to hold a wine like this back and release it when it's just starting to show its best form, and this one is. The season in 2019 crept up on people, and before they realised it, it emerged as one of the better years. This very small production wine follows the normal pattern of open...

Margaret River

Cabernet Sauvignon

Quite simply one of the finest cabernet sauvignons yet released from Cape Grace in its long history. It was a very early season in Margaret River, but the wine shows remarkable elegance and stylishness normally associated with cooler years. There's a black-fruit, leathery combination on the nose with a leafy lift. It's generously proportioned but delivers with elegance and medium...

Margaret River

Shiraz

A lighter and most elegant shiraz from a vintage that was conducive to this style of shiraz. The usual hands-on approach was used to gently handle the fruit before maturation in a mix of barriques and puncheons to keep the oak influence to a minimum. Aromas of dark plummy fruits, with a liberal sprinkle of spices and little black pepper....

Margaret River

Shiraz

Cape Grace has been producing some excellent shiraz over the years, and this one from a very good year is another cracker. It follows the typical line of open fermentation, hand plunging, basket pressing and then maturation in a mix of puncheons and hogsheads, of which 35% was new. This is a wine that really allows the fruit to strut...

Margaret River

Syrah

Perfumed, light to medium bodied bottle of pure joy. The use of the carbonic maceration technique has produced an elevated fruit profile with scented red notes and a little spice. The palate is supple and flavoursome bursting with vibrant red fruit character. A wine to drink in its early years

Margaret River

Chenin Blanc

Another brilliant example of the versatility of this variety. It's been cane cut to allow the bunches to dry and concentrate the sugars. It's thoroughly delicious with its floral, green apple and citrus on the nose and then the luscious mix of cumquat, lemon tart and a hint of pineapple. If you want just a little sweetness with a crisp...

Margaret River

Chardonnay

Continues the generous style that has been part of the Cape Grace DNA. It's wild fermented and gets about 40% new oak which this season needed to strike the right balance. Nectarine and edgier cumquat emerge over aromas of quince paste and crème brulee on the nose. The palate is layered and textured with great depth of flavour that carries...

Margaret River

Chardonnay

A slightly finer and more delicate chardonnay than previously, benefiting from this super vintage. But there is certainly no shortage of power driving through a long palate. Aromas of marzipan and roasted almond with a cereal, grapefruit and light white peach character. The palate is exquisitely crafted and shaped to a very long finish. Excellent.

Margaret River

Chardonnay

Continuing the excellent line of chardonnays produced from this terrific producer in Margaret River. In this case, it was barrel fermented, and then it got 33% in new French oak. So, the oak influence is important and significant, and yet it doesn't overload, allowing the beautiful mix of butterscotch and peach characters, with their lifted florals to emerge. Has a...

Margaret River

Chardonnay

There's an immediate crunchy purity and vibrancy about this chardonnay. Certainly one of the best yet from Cape Grace. The aromas are dominated by a punchy peach, nectarine and slightly brioche combination. And then the palate, which is gently influenced by a third new French oak, reveals a complex minerality presented with elegance. A little butterscotch adds further richness, and...

Margaret River

Chenin Blanc

Super season for this aromatic fruity variety. A small portion was barrel fermented resulting in a slightly tighter palate at the moment but one that is ready to develop beautifully with age. The nose has a sort of red apply skin and punchy melon nuance. The palate is racy with a crunchy chalky acidity supporting that vibrant fruit expression.

Margaret River

Chenin Blanc

Cape Grace has been a champion of this variety for some time. This gets about 30% wild fermentation in oak, which certainly brings added complexity and interest. Has a crunchy apple and fresh pastry character on the nose with a palate that has depth and layered complexity finished with a fine lingering acidity. Great food wine, this.

Margaret River

Chenin Blanc

There are now so many really attractive chenin blanc based sparkling wines, and this is another that is right on the money. It’s a clean and crisp style with pronounced apple and pear characters, with a beautifully complexing biscuit character coming from a time on lees. Thoroughly beautiful current drinking.

Margaret River

Cabernet Sauvignon

Every time I think I've seen the last release from 2018, out pops another. It was a great vintage, and this super impressive cabernet is showing just why. Traditional winemaking has been adopted to capture the best from this remarkably intense and super concentrated fruit. The combination of blackcurrant and slightly bay leaf fruit with subtle oyster shell and graphite...

Margaret River

Chardonnay

This is a tiny production wine, but it's great to see Cape Grace putting their energies into producing something special. It was wild fermented into 50% new oak, and although there's been minimal intervention, it shows tremendous complexity. It has a minerally, gun-flinty edge to the grapefruit and slightly cashew-like characters. The texture is quite creamy, but there's a nice...

Margaret River

Chardonnay

This is an immediately ready-to-drink chardonnay, displaying good fruit depth and expression and a well-crafted palate. Captures the citrus, grapefruity notes, a little bit of the lemongrass, and lemon curd complexity. There's a trace of stone fruit, nectarine dominated, and a minerally palate showing a nice oak and fruit integration. Drinking perfectly now.

Margaret River

Rose

A strikingly vibrant and fresh young rosé from this very good year. The colour is the palest of pale blush pinks. The nose shows crunchy red currant and watermelon characters, and is lively, almost effervescent, with fine red fruits sustained through to a clean, crisp finish. It’s a blend of shiraz and pinot noir, and it works extremely well.

Margaret River

Semillon Sauvignon Blanc

A quintessential Margaret River blend with its beautiful florals and melons on the nose and a palate that delivers with a lemony fruit character and a dusting of dried herbs. It's crisp, flavoursome and refreshing. And right on the money for this style.

Margaret River

Cabernet Sauvignon

Highly fragrant and scented cabernet from this excellent cabernet vintage. Aromas of violet and blackcurrant and red berry nuances with a lift of bay leaf and graphite. The palate is seamlessly woven with a fine chalky tannin control. It’s an elegantly crafted wine of good intensity and depth delivering its payload with poise and refinement.

Margaret River

Cabernet Sauvignon

Perfumed notes of red fruit engage immediately on the nose. There are scents of rose petal and bay leaf with a little graphite complexity. The palate is firm although there is sweet fruit to balance. Has a distinctive leafy overtone with traces of herbs and cedar. It’s a wine that needs some time to emerge from its shell. An elegant...

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

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

Chardonnay

This cooler vintage proved ideal for chardonnay. This captures that vintage to perfection. The aromas are lightly fragrant with high florals evident. There is a subtle saline character merging. The palate has a fine crunchy feel with a little pear, cut lime and brioche richness. Excellent use of oak supplies a subtle complexing influence. I like this less opulent direction.