Winemaker Notes
Blend: 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Malbec
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Expressive and dense, with fresh loam notes and herbal accents of sage and rosemary that mingle with a muscular core of dried currant, huckleberry and green tea flavors. Shows wonderful harmony on the finish, where a spicy, cedary detail kicks in. Drink now through 2033.
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James Suckling
Red plums intermingle with eucalyptus and redcurrants on the nose. Lots of boisterous red cherries permeate the medium-bodied palate, where medium-chewy tannins carve out a focused finish.
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Wine Enthusiast
One sniff of this little beauty and you’ll be transported to Margaret River’s pristine shores, the Indian Ocean lapping at your feet and towering eucalyptus trees swaying above your head. Your nostrils will sense wild blueberry, strawberry, white-pepper spice, crushed violets, scrubby seaside bushes and dusty warm earth. The mouthfeel is medium in weight, tightly gripped by herbal tannins and a juicy fruity lift on the finish. This producer’s more premium Cabs may be more polished, but Filius is just plain joyful to drink. Negociants USA–Winebow. Editors’ Choice
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: One must not be Napa or Médoc-centric when evaluation Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignons. The 2016 Vasse Felix Filius is an excellent example of the elegance that this region in the world brings to this grape variety. TASTING NOTES: This wine is active and bright with red fruit aromas and flavors. Its delicate tannins should pair it superbly with a rack of lamb. (Tasted: August 9, 2019, San Francisco, CA)
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.