Amelia Jukes continues with her Australian State by State series, championing and benchmarking Australian fine wine. She hopes by focusing on grape varieties, states and regions that she can showcase the exceptional quality and value Australia offers at the top end. Jukes continues by stating that Cabernet Sauvignon not only plays a massive role in Australia fine wine, but winemakers there also produce some of the most incredible Cabernets in the world.
The format of the event was based on current and an aged vintage for comparison, and to showcase how these Australian Cabernets evolve gloriously with age.
This was a wonderful experience and to me it highlighted the exceptional quality that you get from Australian Cabernet with a decade of ageing, certainly a faster and more affordable return for value than Bordeaux. With stelvin closures being the norm, it was also great to see consistency.
Western Australia, Margaret River
Cullen Diana Madeline Cabernet Sauvignon 2022 & 2012
A great way to start the tasting, setting the benchmark, this estate was established in 1971 by Dr Kevin and Diana Cullen, now under the guidance of Vanya Cullen (who joined the family business full time in 1983) – a biodynamic, carbon neutral and sustainable enterprise.
2022: Serious dark plummy notes, elegant and refined, full of savoury nuances, with precise, pure, dark and black berries.
2012: Savoury, BBQ, copper notes, evolving well, pretty seamless with that perfect balance and beauty, this will evolve further over the next decade or so, a cool star.
Handpicked Wines Collection
Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon 2018
Peter Dillon is the winemaker, and these wines are deliberately held back before release, with grapes sourced from the Wilyabrup and Wallcliffe sites, using mostly vines from the Houghton Clone.
Blueberries and delicate violets on first taste, restrained oak, cedar spice, plummy, and plenty of texture and depth, fresh zingy ripe berries, blackberries, vanilla and spice, fresh and vibrant, leaving a great sweet spot on the finish. Great value, a label to watch.
Larry Cherubino Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 & 2013
2021: Juicy fruit filled, then the spices start, lots of blue fruit, purity is immense, great potential from Cherubino who is a marvel.
2013: Cocoa, mint, menthol, cocoa, charcoal, dark brooding blue fruits, evolved well and pretty seamless.
Leeuwin Estate Art Series Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 & 2017
2019: Bright clean red berries, lovely balance from delicate fruit to savoury depth, clean and uplifting, love the precision and focus of this wine, quite superb now with a decanter and large Cabernet glass but will evolve beautifully for an age. An exceptional wine of this quality and price.
2017: Dark blue berries, cherries, violets, hint of aged balsamic, dried strawberries, cedar and spice, great purity, much more classical Old World Cabernet than the vibrant 2019, love the gentle soft, savoury/ blueberry finish. Another exceptional wine.
Moss Wood Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 and 2001
2021: Redcurrant, cranberries, dark cherries, great depth and intensity whilst keeping it pure, an outstanding wine that will age for decades, cedar, lush cigars, thank God the Mugfords now put their wines under stelvin.
2001: one of the oldest wines on show sadly Amorim buggered up the samples provided.
Nocturne Cabernet Sauvignon 2021
Nocturne Single Vineyard Sheok Cabernet Sauvignon 2022
A new label for me made by Julian Langworthy (winning numerous awards in past employment) in his first solo venture and what a start.
2021: Cocoa, savoury, meaty, clean, precise fruit, dark blue berries combine with earthy cedar notes, violets, delicate rose buds, cocoa nibs, fresh and vibrant.
2022: Dark fruited, savoury, cocoa, spiced, full of promise still very youthful, needs time.
Vasse Felix Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 & 2016
2021: Fresh, clean style, full of bright blue and dark fruits, pretty perfect at this price.
2016: This showcased exactly why restaurants should buy these wines and keep them for a few years, with five extra years of age you have a beautiful Cabernet here that showcases Margaret River Cabs at their best, it’s a stunning, perfect wine at this price level.
Vasse Felix Tom Cullity 2020 & 2015
Vasse Felix was founded by Dr Thomas Brendan Cullity in 1967, when he planted Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec, the Tom Cullity descends from these original vines.
2020: Gentle perfume, elegance, delicate spice, black fruit, umami, seaweed, bright berries lift the flavour profile from its deep concentration as it slumbers. This seamless wine is full of exceptional promise already giving that Wow factor now.
2015: Meaty perfume, plums, damsons and forest floor. In the mouth the wine has truffles and orange rind, wild thyme, creamy vanilla with violets and berries on the mid-palate. Boysenberries. Tayberries and cedar spice evolve on the finish, decant and allow to open up or keep longer.
Voyager Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, MJW 2018 & 2014
2018: Violets, dark berries, dark red, luscious cherries, chewy, meaty, cedar, so well balanced, pretty complete, drinking well now but will age well.
2014: Deep intensity, with dark berry notes, cedar spiced, meaty, dark but that focus, bright and savoury, drinking well.
Woodlands Cabernet Sauvignon 2020 & 2014
Eleanor 2020: Love the balance of dark fruit to savoury cedar notes, clean but spiced, focused but textured, full-flavoured but clean and precise – a stunning wine.
Matthew 2014: Hate to repeat it but my notes stated “Bordeaux”, this was mesmerising, lovely dark hue, still some tannin and cedar notes on the first taste but then it evolves and becomes a magical, seamless pure classy Cabernet, loved it.
Frankland River, Mountain Baker, Western Australia
Larry Cherubino ‘Budworth’ Cabernet Sauvignon 2019
Budworth 2019: Wow, still youthful and closed but my word this will be a superstar, the purity, intensity and freshness is a marvel, this is a big muscular wine with sinew, cedar, violets, rose petals and dark fruit combined to make a pretty perfect wine. Decant or wait a decade.
Frankland River CS 2010: This is a luscious fruit driven wine that is full of life, ripe berries, savoury cedar notes, cocoa, spice it’s balanced, fresh and has great vibrancy.
Forest Hill Cabernet Sauvignon 2022
For £22 this is a great wine, inky dark but fresh, bright, clean on the palate, dark fruits but balanced with a saline freshness – a bargain wine… would love to see some age on this.
Plantagenet ‘Aquitaine’ Cabernet Sauvignon 2021
Plantagenet Cabernet Sauvignon 2012
2021: Bilberries, fresh and enticing, saline freshness, ripe but clean, vibrant and great value.
2012: My word this is what Australian Cabernet is all about, this 12- year-old bargain bucket (when it was released at about £12) Cabernet highlights the magic of Australian wine with age – cedar, crimson, purity, silky, seductive; Wow what a wine! sheer class at this price.
Yarra Valley Victoria
Levantine Hill Samantha’s Paddock Melange Traditional 2017
2017: New to me and what a joy to try this superlative Cabernet, violets, redcurrants, blackcurrants, dried herbs, smoky oak, spices. Big rich flavours but perfectly balanced, chocolate spice with vanilla and luscious red and blue berries on the finish.
Mount Mary 2021 & 2016
2021: Dark red cherries, violets, spice with forest floor notes, tannins still at the fore, this is a wine to age for decades, a class act.
2016: This has evolved rather well, the balance between purity and depth, the fine deep red berry structure and healthy, savoury, meaty tones combine well to deliver a perfectly balanced wine that is happily brooding away.
Best’s Great Western Hamill Cabernet Sauvignon 2022 (seeking UK distribution)
2022: Cocoa, chocolate, spice, inky, rich ripe plums, violets, liquorice, and tobacco leaf. Intense and concentrated but well-balanced, great value – decant or age to get the full benefit.
South Australia – Multi-regional blends
Penfolds Bin 407 2022 & 2010
2022: Liquorice, silky, cocoa, vanilla pods, blueberries – pure and exceptional.
2010: Eucalyptus, cassis, dark fruits, Dundee cake, crunchy blackberries, espresso and dark plummy finish.
Penfolds Bin 707 2022 & 2010
2022: Cedar, spiced, blackcurrants, violets, cocoa, cumin, tapenade, cigar, brooding, a class act, sublime. Age.
2010: A rare treat, black inky colour with cassis, raspberries and dark cherries on the nose; wildflowers, aniseed, with a concoction of blue and black berries, lovely depth with sweet beetroot, ripe figs and cedar-spiced notes, magical.
Yalumba The Caley 2019 & 2014
2019: 75% Coonawarra Cabernet & 25% Barossa Shiraz. Perfumed aromatics shine from the glass, mulberries, violets, cedar then on the palate there is a purity that is quite breathtaking – tastes luxurious and delivers.
2014: With 82% Coonawarra Cabernet and 18% Barossa Shiraz (percentages vary with each release) this is a class act, tiny clusters of berries dance on the palate with a mere hint of delicate cedar. As it evolves, aromas of violets, leafy redcurrants and spices come to the fore then, as it settles on the palate, a stunningly generous feel, with dark fruit notes of jet-black cherries glow. It will continue to age but you can happily drink this once decanted and enjoy its journey as the decanter gets lower.
South Australia - Barossa
Henschke Cyril Henschke 2019
2019: Savoury and meaty, hints of an abattoir, juicy red offal, balanced by the purity of the dark red berry fruit and cassis, zing and zing in harmony, exceptional.
Peter Lehmann ‘Mentor’ Cabernet Sauvignon 2020 & 2012
2020: Clean, fresh, vibrant, cool, fresh, pure, clean red and black fruit, flinty, fresh and focused
2012: Oh my word how this has evolved, made by the great Andrew Wigan, the purity of this wine is perfect, seamless, cool, silky, lingering, pure class and a bargain if you had bought it on release.
Rockford Rifle Range Cabernet Sauvignon 2020
2020: Dark and brooding, cocoa, tobacco and cassis, dried fragrant herbs, lovely concentration of dark fruit, velvety silky – needs time, but great potential.
South Australia - Clare Valley
Grosset Gaia 2022 & 2004
2022: These Grosset wines always need ageing, this wine is no exception with great potential – dark chocolate, cedar notes with blueberries, blackcurrants and spice – evolving well.
2004: Blackcurrant and plum, savoury earthy notes, tobacco and spice, herbal tea notes, starting to open up, a classy Old World style of Cabernet.
Jim Barry Spring Farm Block 74 Cabernet Sauvignon 2021
2021: Chocolate richness mingling with fine tannins, earthy notes of bay and tobacco leaf, and a brambly spice that lingers on the finish. This balances sweet fruit and savoury notes perfectly, Clare Valley at its best.
Jim Barry, Clarevale Cabernet Malbec 2021
2021: Leafy with lots of red berries, aniseed, cedar, rose buds, clean, roast lamb’s bloody juices, purity, focused – would love to see this in a decade.
Mount Horrocks Cabernet Sauvignon 2022 & 2014
2022: Juicy, perfumed, stunning, I love the purity and seamless perfection of this wine, clean bright notes, full of focused red berries, great potential
2014: Dark, brooding, violets, blueberries, cassis, rose buds, excellent balance, has evolved well, great value.
South Australia, Coonawarra
Majella Cabernet Sauvignon 2020 & 2014
2020: Nutty, chocolate, cocoa, violets, blackcurrants, cassis and cedar. Fresh and focused.
2014: Deep cassis notes, cedar, classic Coonawarra, with meaty notes balanced by bright blue berry notes.
Parker Estate 1st Growth 2019
2019: A class act, purity and freshness in abundance, clean and focused. Bilberries, cedar, violets, velvety, a gorgeous mouthful that tingles and excites, this will age beautifully.
Penfolds Bin 169 2022 & 2010
2020: Delicate and refined, pure, clean blue fruited, with rose buds, evolves beautifully in the glass, fresh, vibrant and huge potential. Another exceptional wine from Penfolds.
2010: This is ageing well – juicy and full of dark blue berries, powerful but controlled, inky, flinty, smoky, delicate fragrant herbs, class act.
Yalumba The Menzies 2019 & 2012
2019: Full of dark berries, mulberries, violets and blackcurrants, silky and luscious, this is outstanding, with an exotic perfumed aromatic nose, vibrant, silky finish.
2012: Cocoa, spices, violets and dark fruit; bilberries and cedar notes, delicate floral aromatics, clean and focused. Hints of chocolate and saline.
Hickinbotham Clarendon Vineyard, Trueman, Cabernet Sauvignon 2020 & 2016
2020: Dark and seductive, jet black cherries, juicy fruit essence, cedar and spiced, lovely balance, purity and focus, a gem.
2016: Dark, blueberries, spice, exotic, coconut, vanilla, damsons, elegance and sheer class, will continue to age for years, excellent wine.
In conclusion
What can one say but a huge thank you to Amelia Jukes and Spritz Marketing for pulling off this stunning tasting, a masterclass in how to deliver the ‘full Monty’ of Australian Cabernets – an educational, mesmerising, superlative experience. Thank You.
Not sure what's going on here but clearly not everyone was spitting!
