Winemaker Notes
The 2018 Abercrombie reflects the highs that can be achieved in a superb vintage when thoughtful and deliberate winemaking combine with exceptional vineyards. The color is a vivid, deep ruby, tingeing purple and betraying the wine's youth. The bouquet evolves in a measured fashion as the wine slowly aerates, filling the glass with textbook Cabernet perfume of powerful dark fruits, rubbed bay leaf, cedar, coffee beans and vanilla. Intensity and purity of fruit is the standout feature, and this transmits seamlessly to the palate, where the profound structure and effortless length also take centre stage. The harmony of rich fruit, clean and vibrant acidity and fine, abiding tannins speak to the beguiling nature of this young wine and the glorious future that awaits its patient custodians in ensuing decades. This is true West Australian Cabernet.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This is really fine with such polished and manicured fruit and tannins that deliver a thoroughly refined and beautiful palate with sweet dark fruit, from currants to blackberries. Long, long finish. Hard not to drink now. But one for the cellar. Try after 2025.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
This is the flagship wine that brings together Margaret River and Mount Barker (in the Great Southern). Both areas bring different attributes: Margaret River brings the red fruit, the suppleness and the fine tannins, while Mount Barker brings the muscle, brawn, tannin and power. So, you can see that these two regions do well together. In the glass, the 2018 Abercrombie Cabernet Sauvignon is without doubt the most powerful iteration of Abercrombie ever made, with concentration and density wedged into the established house style that Howard Park has refined over the years. This retains the house characters of pencil shavings, dried spice and savory texture, and it combines it with the unfettered fruit power that was available in 2018. Very smart.
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Wine Enthusiast
A blend of two single vineyards in two top regions of Western Aus, this aromatic Cab is in a sexy place now. Aromas of raspberry preserves, mint, cedar, graphite and dark chocolate prove a showy opener. The palate is just as outgoing, with a burst of tangy acidity that’s reined in by muscular, savory, cat’s tongue tannins.
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Decanter
Restrained aromas on the nose, fresh dark berries and hints of iodine and vegetal notes. Very intense fruit, silky and smooth.
While Australia is best known for big, supple and potent Shiraz, it is also a fine source of Cabernet Sauvignon. Cab in fact is Australia’s second most planted red varietal, and it is both bottled on its own and often used in blends. It’s grown in Western Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia. The latter is the home of Block 42 of the Penfolds Kalimna Vineyard, whose vines -- planted in 1886 -- are believed to be the oldest productive Cabernet vines in the world. Two of the most highly regarded sources of Australian Cabernet Sauvignon, though, are Coonawarra on South Australia’s Limestone Coast, and Margaret River in Western Australia, near Perth.
Coonawarra, famous for its rich red soil called terra rossa, has held Cabernet vines since the 1890’s. Though it can get quite warm during the growing season, it’s not far from the cool waters of the Southern Ocean, which tempers the climate and promotes balance in the grapes and resulting wines. These Cabs tend to be complex indeed, showing trademark dark fruit and firm tannins, along with notes of cigar box, cedar and – very often – mint and/or eucalyptus. Some producers to look for are Jim Barry, Yalumba, Berton Vineyards and Penley Estate.
Margaret River, on the other hand, stepped into wine production only in the 1960’s. It is situated on the lower western tip of the country, where the Southern and Indian Oceans meet. This coastal location creates an even more temperate, maritime-influenced climate that resembles that of Bordeaux. In good years these Australian Cabs show amazing balance between ripeness, tannins and acidity, along with lovely texture. Producers of note include Leeuwin Estate, Vasse Felix and Howard Park.