This ethereal 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon offers up beautiful aromas of blackcurrant and gravel, punctuated by dried herbs and French oak. Compact and composed in a true claret style with palpable tension, energy and balance, this 2021 suggests a promising future. An excellent result for the vintage.

www.vinous.com

A concentrated style, rich and deeply flavoured from both fruit and oak. Some development yet mainly a combo of blackberry compote and cassis, freshly ground coffee, dark chocolate covering licorice, tapenade and seaweed, a whiff of freshly rolled tobacco. Cedary/charry oak infuses the fuller-bodied palate, adding more shape to the tannins, and yet there’s an immediate appeal to this. It’ll probably not be as long lived as some but that’s OK; this is ready now.

www.winecompanion.com.au

Always a star performer, Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon shines brightest at this super premium level with a seamless beauty and complexity. The winemaker knows the fruit well and it shows in the melding of fruit, oak and tannin, delivering real presence in the glass. Cabernet lovers will rejoice in the classic varietal aromas of blackberry, black cherry, plum with a sprinkling of green peppercorn, acacia, mint, earth and vanilla. Sweet fruited through and through, warm in texture and layered in black fruits, mint, leafy herbals, violet florals with a lasting – and attractive – dusty, peppery finish. Tannins are firm – a boost for a long future – and fine – something that makes it approachable right now. The best of both worlds.

www.winepilot.com

The vintage has contributed to a stylish and elegantly structured cabernet. It has just 2% each of merlot and petit verdot. Perfumed note of blackcurrant and sage-like dark fruits combine with intrigue on the nose. The palate is still quite firm with controlling fine chalky tannins and fine-grained oak working in perfect harmony. As it breathes sweet dark fruits emerge with layers of dark chocolate and dark plum.

www.rayjordanwine.com.au