Winemaker Notes
Ruby red in color, this wine offers a complex, savory nose embedded with dried twigs, mushroom, soy, kelp, cowhide, peanut husk and cacao. The savory fragrance gives way to fruit cake notes, with orange peel, red gum flower and concentrated blackcurrant combining to form an alluring bouquet. A plump entrance and fruity core lead to building fine, ripe tannins. A line of fresh red berry tang, reminiscent of dried cranberry and blackcurrant flavors, is followed by notes of dry sweet biscuit, chocolate, iron, and spicy oak.
Professional Ratings
-
James Suckling
A beautiful cabernet showing an array of fresh herbs, peppermint tea, incense, dark chocolate, coffee beans, tobacco leaves, juniper berries and then dried brambleberries and cedar. Dense and intricately woven, this trades in vibrant berries and savory undertones. Full-bodied, it meanders through cherries and sandalwood, before reaching a long, chewy finish.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Compared to the Filius, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon is like night and day. Sure, it includes some sage, bay leaf and tobacco shadings, but here the emphasis is on elegant blackcurrant aromas and flavors. A touch of cedar adds structure and delineation to the medium to full-bodied palate, but pure cassis takes over on the long, silky finish. A blend of 88% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Malbec, 2% Petit Verdot and 1% Merlot, it's approachable now, yet it has the concentration and enough tannin to think it will drink well for at least another decade.
-
Wine Enthusiast
It's hard to believe that this is Vasse Felix's middle-tier red, such is its pedigree. With a little Malbec and Petit Verdot in the mix, this Cabernet is classic Margaret River, balancing power and structure with complexity and poise. Evoking the springtime scents of this coastal region, it billows ripe red currents, eucalyptus, sage, beach scrub and sea spray. Set up for aging, tannins are fine and vice-like and the oak is fairly prominent, but all should settle into place with a few more years in bottle. Drink now until 2029.
Cellar Selection
-
Wine Spectator
This polished version shows an air of elegance to the juicy cherry and plum flavors, with spice and black tea details. Minerality and fresh sage accents weave in on the finish. The tannins are dense and toothsome, but not distracting. Drink now through 2034.
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.