Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This is a linear and beautiful wine as always with currant, floral, mint and wet earth. Graphite. Rust. Metal shavings. Full body, chewy and tight with reserve and intensity. A truly excellent wine. Just a baby. Screw cap. Give it another three years. But love now.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2012 vintage in Margaret River was classical and fine; many producers made excellent quality wines in this vintage, and for me, the reds are defined by a ripeness of tannin, which is fully resolved in every regard. Here, the 2012 Art Series Cabernet Sauvignon is layered with cocoa nib, coffee grounds, sage, cassis, blackberry, mulberry, summer raspberry and dried curry leaf. In the mouth, it exudes polish and tannin ... a graceful, almost effortless wine. Sensational.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
When I tasted the 2012 Leeuwin Estate Art Series Cabernet Sauvignon, I immediately felt myself flying over the Atlantic and heading into Saint-Julien and enjoying an entrecôte—France's juicier version of an American ribeye. This claret-like wine shows fine berries, cassis, and earth. Its tanginess brings elegance to the fore. Put this excellent Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon to the test and compare to one of Saint-Julien's top classified Bordeaux and you will realize how markedly similar they are to each other. (Tasted: July 10, 2017, San Francisco, CA)
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Wine Enthusiast
The Art Series Cabernet seems to be increasing in quality nearly every vintage. The 2012 boasts plenty of sweet, cedary oak, but backs that up with layers of red currant fruit and hints of bay leaf. It's silky and harmonious on the finish, adding tea-like notes of complexity. Drink now–2025.
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Wine Spectator
Intense, with mocha, cigar box and fresh loam notes providing a firm, slightly chewy background to the core of plum and black cherry flavors. Fresh mint and black olive accents linger on the finish. Drink now through 2030.
A noble variety bestowed with both power and concentration, Cabernet Sauvignon enjoys success all over the globe, its best examples showing potential to age beautifully for decades. Cabernet Sauvignon flourishes in Bordeaux's Medoc where it is often blended with Merlot and smaller amounts of some combination of Cabernet Franc, Malbecand Petit Verdot. In the Napa Valley, ‘Cab’ is responsible for some of the world’s most prestigious, age-worthy and sought-after “cult” wines. Somm Secret—DNA profiling in 1997 revealed that Cabernet Sauvignon was born from a spontaneous crossing of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc in 17th century southwest France.
Home to some of Australia’s most elegant and long-lived red and white wines, Margaret River is situated in the farthest reaches of Western Australia. Relatively warm and dry, the region is cooled by breezes from the Indian Ocean. Margaret River takes some inspiration from Bordeaux, producing top-quality Cabernet Sauvignons and Bordeaux Blends with firm structure, mouthwatering acidity, balanced alcohol and notes of herbs and spice. For white wines, refreshing blends of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon as well as complex, age-worthy Chardonnays are regional specialties.