Winemaker Notes
#2 Wine Spectator Top 10 Wine Values of 2023
A new-age Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon (blended with Malbec), expressing all the regional hallmarks. It is a bright, fruit-forward, earlier-drinking style with attractive savory nuances from Vasse Felix’s quality-led, minimal intervention winemaking approach.
Bright ruby with a purple tinge. On the nose, lovely blood plum and mulberry fragrance, with graphite, some charred nori, roast pan drippings, spicy charcuterie, and a hit of Hickory sauce. A light-to-medium-bodied Cabernet. It has a lovely fresh acidity and fine, crisp and sinewy tannins and a soft, elegant core. Unveils flavors of blood plum and berry
Blend: 93% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5.5% Malbec, 1.5% Petit Verdot
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Stunning and complex, concentrated and stylish, with pure raspberry puree, black cherry and details of earthy dried porcini mushroom, along with notes of toasted herbs, sandalwood and espresso bean. The long finish reveals firming tannins, but they remain polished and effortless.
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James Suckling
Plenty on offer for the price, although paradoxically not the best vintage for a value offering. The tannins, a bit bony and ungenerous. Conversely, I like the savory elements here and feel that things will gel and fill out with time. A slick of blackcurrant, green bean, sage and mint, before the shins and elbows of youth nudge the inner gums. Despite the accessible pricing, give this time.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon marks the 50th vintage of this wine. On the nose, it gives us all the typical red fruit, bay leaf, maritime salt, saltbush and raspberry characters that we have come to love at this estate. In the mouth, the wine shows the 2021 vintage in that it is lighter-framed and less dense than the 2020 tasted beside it. It's no problem, but it just offers a slightly different drinking experience, more of a "claret" framing than the more supple. Rating: 91+
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.