There is huge demand for drinkability in wine today and, not to be outdone, some of the most talented and astute winemakers in Western Australia are sending cabernet on this modern path with impressive results. The traditional idea of cabernet as a wine that must be aged to be enjoyed is now a memory for many wine producers and consumers. Sure, the grape’s legendary ability to cellar and improve remains almost unbeaten, but even among the hallowed grounds of Bordeaux, you need only look back as far as 2016 and 2015 to find so many wines that are so drinkable right now.
Great cabernet wines from Western Australia, specifically Margaret River, have long been praised for their elegance and longevity. And my recent tasting there revealed that both new and established producers also have an eye trained on this target of enhanced drinkability. The quality of these newly approachable wines is engineered in the vineyard not the winery and winemakers are doing less to deliver more approachability and early appeal.
James and Executive Editor Nick Stock record their tasting notes in the Margaret River tasting room in 2019.
“Drinking habits have changed,” said Dormilona winemaker and proprietor Josephine Perry. “And I’ve always seen our cabernet as an elegant, medium-bodied and fresher style.”
Perry maintains that the game has changed in terms of trusting more in the pedigree of vineyard to shape wine style. “I’ve always made a lighter, more drinkable cabernet. When I walk the vineyard the grapes always taste so pretty, they’re lightly textured and they just don’t want to be locked up in oak,” she added.
Vasse Felix Chief Winemaker Virginia Willcock has watched the style evolve over more than a decade and says many established producers have bent in the direction of elegance. She figures that newer producers have then set their sights on this style. “Vanya (Cullen) was doing this earlier with the Diana Madeline cabernet blend,” she recalls. “Sure, there are still producers that favor bigger cabernets, but there are more producers that are more comfortable in gentler handling and delivering more elegantly structured cabernets. We have so many more drinkable wines here now.”
It is a reminder the cabernet grape can lead in this modern direction of drinkability and approachability even though it still may be revered by many for power and longevity. Many Western Australian wineries are a source of high overall quality right now and many talented winemakers are testing the potential for better wines all the time. This new era of highly drinkable cabernet makes a welcome addition to the already esteemed reputation of cabernet in the region and reveals a beautifully elegant side to this prestigious grape.
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– Nick Stock, executive editor
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