Deep, dark red/purple colour, with a profound bouquet of dark fruits, violets, dried herb and dried floral notes interlocked with blackberry, layered with ample tannins and lasting very long on the follow-through. Superb flavour and structure. A statuesque cabernet blend. Margaret seems to build gravitas with each succeeding vintage.
96 points, The Real Review (September 2020)
87% cab, 8% merlot and 5% malbec: tobacco and graphite are the first scents. Currant, too. Red and black. Authoritative. Fine boned. Well melded tannins, juicy and moreish. This pushes long, with an overall feeling of mid-weighted confidence in the glass and across a table.
95 points, Wine Companion (March 2020)
Lovely texture and mouth-feel here, density of tannin and dark chocolate, red and black berry flavour, but also, you have to like peppermint and camphor, or be tolerant of those things, because they ride high in the wine, as does the toasty slightly varnished oak, at least at this stage. It’s fresh, has excellent length, and dusty spicy things and grainy tannin trailing. Doesn’t quite ‘connect’ as it were, but excellent otherwise.
92 points, The Wine Front (September 2020)
Margaret River
Located three hours south of Perth, Margaret River is Western Australia’s most prestigious wine-growing region. Serious vineyard development began only in the late 1960’s following the publication of a report by John Gladstones in 1965 stating that the area had a similar climate to Pomerol or St Emilion, with low frost risk, plenty of sunshine and equable temperatures within the growing season promoting even ripening. Margaret River’s climate is warm and maritime, with some cooling influence provided by southeast trade winds. The soils derive from granitic and a gneissic rock over which laterite has formed. The region can be divided in three sub-regions: the cooler south between Yallingup and Karridale with predominantly lateritic gravelly loamy sands and sandy loams; the warm and sunnier Willyabrup in the centre with predominantly gravelly loams, but some gritty sandy loams and granitic gravels; and Margaret River in the north with similar soils, but slightly cooler temperatures. This is entirely consistent with style; the wines from Willyabrup being more generous than the highly structured wines of the north and the elegant styles of the south. Margaret River is best known for high quality Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc Semillon blends and top notch Cabernet Sauvignon and Bordeaux blends. Over the years, the region has established an astonishing reputation illustrating a consistency in quality and a strongly focused winemaking culture.
