The Margaret River Retrospective
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Five Vintage Verticals:
Cape Mentelle Cabernet Sauvignon
2020 | 2014 | 2012 | 2009
Houghton 'Jack Mann' Cabernet Sauvignon
2021 | 2017 | 2001 | 1999
Vasse Felix 'Tom Cullity' Cabernet Malbec (& Heytesbury Cabernet Blend)
2021 | 2015 | 2009 | 2007
Cullen 'Diana Madeline' Cabernet Sauvignon
2023 | 2012 | 2011 | 2008
Moss Wood Cabernet Sauvignon
2008 | 2004 | 2000 1990
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Margaret River has long stood among the world’s great Cabernet regions. Its maritime climate, ancient gravelly soils and meticulous viticulture consistently produce wines of structure, purity and longevity. This tasting showcases five estates that helped define — and continue to lead — the region’s reputation for world-class Cabernet.
An extraordinary afternoon showcasing Western Australia’s flagship variety - Cabernet Sauvignon. Five Vintage Verticals from the estates that helped define, and continue to lead the region’s reputation for world-class Cabernet.
Monday, March 2nd
Public Holiday Cabernet Tasting
Hosted By JJ (John Jens)
Tasting:
4:00pm-6:00pm, 20 of Western Australia’s Greatest Cabernet’s
& Delicious ‘Help yourself’ Cheese Platters Tickets: $295.00
The Wine List
First Bracket
2020 Cape Mentelle ‘Heritage’ Cabernet Sauvignon
A powerhouse cabernet of immense fruit concentration yet at the same time showing poise and effortless control. Blackcurrant, dark chocolate and a little graphite black olive characters emerge immediately on the nose. The palate is loaded with cabernet of great intensity with a chalky tannin and slightly graphite edge retaining control through to the long finish.
97 Points, Ray Jordan, Rayjordan.com
2014 Cape Mentelle ‘Heritage’ Cabernet Sauvignon
Very deep red colour with a good tint of purple. The bouquet is reserved, with peaty, nori and black olive aromas, tinges of graphite and bitumen, strong but stylish oak treatment, and a very full-bodied palate that is intense and powerful and very penetrating. The tannins are very persistent, coating the entire inside of the mouth. Gorgeous flavour and massive structure, an outstanding wine. Great length and resonance.
98 Points, Huon Hooke, The Real Review
2012 Cape Mentelle Cabernet Sauvignon
"Handpicked fruit was berry sorted before fermentation of 30 days on skins; 18 months in French oak (50% new). This is a glorious cabernet, its blackcurrant, cedar and spice bouquet leading into a seamless, perfectly balanced palate with cassis and redcurrant fruit framed by cedary oak. The amazing tannins, softly woven into the fabric of the fruit, gives this wine its ultimate class. Very different to the 2011. Drink by 2052."
98 Points, James Halliday, Halliday Wine Companion
2009 Cape Mentelle Cabernet Sauvignon
There is an understated effortlessness about this wine that will, time permitting, define it among the greatest Cape Mentelles of all. Every molecule of complexity and detail have been intricately assembled, with each nuance of young Margaret River cabernet character methodically ticked off, yet it upholds an astonishing approachability and an alcohol reading of just 13.5%. Fine, textural, gravelly tannins are impeccably poised and the length is mindblowing. This is one of the top six Australian wines I have tasted in the past year.
98 Points, Tyson Stelzer, Wine Taste
Second Bracket
2021 Houghton 'Jack Mann' Cabernet Sauvignon
This is elegance personified. So smooth, so luscious, so rich and yet it finds levity and a sense of drive. Inky cassis, lavender and violet floral lift, fancy feeling mahogany and new leather elements, clove spice, bay leaf and faint sea spray characters in the mix. It feels quite tightly wound despite its velvety suppleness and flow, tannins in a web of fine, graphite-like mineral accents delivering tension and poise. It's a wine that delivers an experience and visceral pleasure. Drink now after a lusty decant, but save some for long cellaring, too. Drink: 2025-2045.
98 points & Best Cabernet Sauvignon of 2025,
Panel Decision, Halliday Wine Companion
2017 Houghton 'Jack Mann' Cabernet Sauvignon
Extremely subtle nose and beautiful texture on the palate. Very light dose of powdery dry tannins on the end but only after hugely convincing ripe fruit. So much more than Cabernet, with lots of polish and inputs of dried undergrowth. Juicy. But by no means simple. Long and a glorious slice of Australian wine history.
18/20 Points Jancis Robinson, jancisrobinson.com (July 2020)
This is a full-bodied cabernet but is so well structured you barely notice. It will only take the first 5 years of a 25+-year life for it to seem medium-bodied.
98 Points James Halliday, Wine Companion (June 2021)
2001 Houghton 'Jack Mann' Cabernet Sauvignon
Immensely powerful and concentrated, yet not the least jammy or alcoholic. Glorious blackcurrant, spice, earth and bitter chocolate; fine, long tannins; very good oak management. High quality
96 Points, James Halliday, Halliday Wine Companion
1999 Houghton 'Jack Mann' Cabernet Sauvignon
A blend of cabernet sauvignon and malbec from Frankland River, a true tribute to the wine style of the late Jack Mann. Dense purple-red, the rich and concentrated bouquet oozes sweet blackcurrant/cassis, the huge, ultra-concentrated fruit of the palate balanced by appropriately firm tannins and lavish oak.
97 Points, James Halliday, Halliday Wine Companion
Third Bracket
2021 Vasse Felix 'Tom Cullity' Cabernet Malbec
Some wines take your breath away – this is one of them.. The intensity of perfume on the nose is matched on the palate, complete with splayed, shapely, firm tannins, a spider thread of acidity and a mouth-filling delicacy of fruit.. Just sublime.
98 Points, Cassandra Charlick, Decanter
2015 Vasse Felix 'Tom Cullity' Cabernet Malbec
"A noble blend of 78% cabernet, 20% malbec and a dollop of petit verdot, conferring ample richness and an authoritative spine: saline maritime acidity and detailed grape tannins, moreish and ripe, attesting to an extraction regime of courage and confidence. Together with extended maturation in French barrique (18 months, 50% new), the structural attributes are impressive. While this full-bodied wine demands patience, one can already detect cassis, lead, cedar, graphite, a herbal potpourri, a swab of black olive and a bay leaf linger, across cedar oak beams."
96 Points, Ned Goodwin MW, Halliday
2009 Vasse Felix 'Heytesbury' Cabernet Blend
A 69/16/15% blend of cabernet sauvignon, petit verdot and malbec that spent 18 months in 62% new French oak. The tannins resulting from the 30 days post-fermentation maceration of 60% of the blend are in perfect harmony with the dominant blackcurrant fruit on the long palate. A very good example of a great style.
96 Points, James Halliday, Halliday Wine Companion
2007 Vasse Felix 'Heytesbury' Cabernet Blend
72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Malbec, 13% Petit Verdot. 100% French oak for 18 months, 92% new, 8% older. TA 6.9 g/l, pH 3.43, RS 0.62 g/l.
Very subtle indeed on the nose. Neat and gorgeous. Very mouthfilling and gorgeous. Spreads right across the palate. Lovely palate scrub. Great elegance even if still quite dry on the finish. Complete and very vibrant.
18/20 Points, Jancis Robinson, jancisrobinson.com
Fourth Bracket
2023 Cullen 'Legacy Diane Madeline' Cabernet Sauvignon
Not many wineries can claim to have three flagship reds, but for Cullens, not a problem. As well as the standard, Diana Madeline, not that there is anything standard about it, we have this wine and then the Vanya. All three were produced in the wonderful 2023 vintage. Obviously, the Diana Madeline is the value play, but the three wines are all different and all spectacular. They each have so much to offer that I couldn’t split them and gave them each 99. I would never argue with anyone who went the extra point, but my concern is that when Vanya tops these, as she surely will, where do you go?
99 Points, Andrew Caillard & Ken Gargett, The Vintage Journal
2012 Cullen 'Diana Madeline' Cabernet Sauvignon
'A 76/17/7% blend of cabernet sauvignon, merlot and cabernet franc aged for 19 months in French barriques (38% new). The palate has astonishing power and length given its alcohol, reflecting the years during which the vineyard has been managed biodynamically, the soil filled with life and beneficial micro-organisms that are indisputably having a positive impact on the vines. You might well be looking at a wine from Bordeaux's Left Bank, coiled up like a spring, but perfectly balanced, the finish almost painfully long.'
98 points, James Halliday, Wine Companion
2011 Cullen 'Diana Madeline' Cabernet Sauvignon
An 80/12/4/3/1% blend of cabernet sauvignon, merlot, malbec, cabernet franc and petit verdot; 18 months in French barriques (48% new). The bouquet is perfumed and very attractive, but doesn't prepare you for the sheer intensity of the quite beautiful palate, with gloriously juicy redcurrant and cassis cradled by fine tannins and integrated oak.
97 Points - James Halliday, The Wine Companion
2008 Cullen 'Diana Madeline' Cabernet Sauvignon
This blend of Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot was picked at precisely the point Vanya Cullen decided the grapes - and in particular the tannins - had reached optimum ripeness; a sophisticated mistral blower on a sorting table removing leaf fragments and infertile berries, and a return to a basket press, have all combined to produce an extremely refined and elegant wine that is quite different to some of the earlier Cullen Cabernet Merlots. It shines with its length, finish and aftertaste.
98 points, James Halliday, Wine Companion
Fifth Bracket
2008 Moss Wood Cabernet Sauvignon
Bid, dense, juicy and generous red with luscious fruit wrapped around a firm tannic core. Classic blackberry/dark berry flavours with cedar. Terrific wine that will age magnificently.
96 Points, Bob Campbell, The Real Review
2004 Moss Wood Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet was first planted at Moss Wood in 1970 and, despite its proximity to Cullen (the other Margaret River cabernet in this year's top 20), the style at Moss Wood is towards a slightly riper and softer wine whose sheer drinkability as a young wine often masks the fact that they age well too. The 2004 certainly fits into this category and, despite the 14.5% alcohol, this comes across as being ripe with out being overdone, with its aromas of dark berry fruit, earthiness, cedar and cigar box, together with a little dark chocolate. On the palate, this already opulent, textured and delicious wine will reward even another 10 years cellaring.
Philip Rich, Australian Financial Review, Top 20 Wines of 2007
2000 Moss Wood Cabernet Sauvignon
"Very deep, youthful colour presages an impressively young, concentrated, powerful cabernet which displays very ripe fruit and tremendous depth of flavour. The tannins are ample and soft, the finish long. There are cedar and roasting-pan complexities in the bouquet and appropriate signs of age development, but the wine has many years ahead of it. A superb and striking cabernet. Drink to 2030."
96 Points, Huon Hooke, The Real Review (Tasted Apr 2018)
1990 Moss Wood Cabernet Sauvignon
Here is barnyard. Steed, dried straw, leather, spice. Sunshine at dawn and dew on the grass. This inspires and enlightens, and, by F, it’s good. Length. Persistence. Endurance. Wow.
97 Points, Erin Larkin, Tasting Book (2021)