Cabernet Comeback Tasting 2024
From a local perspective, the Yarra Valley has always been a bastion of classically styled cabernet with beautiful mid-weight styles the norm, the region's cool climates molding elegant and refined clarets of the highest order. Further afield Margaret River and Australia's western reaches have hung their hat on some of the most sumptuous versions of the varietla going around taking the variety to the world stage and proving just how good Aussie versions can be.
Of course, Bordeaux will always be the pinnacle of the variety and its spiritual home. We keep seeing some brilliant examples making their way over and with a string of great vintages scattered throughout the past 10 years, there is plenty to love.
No conversation would be complete without talking about the fabulous examples coming out of the USA either. These are world-class, benchmark wines that took the world by storm in the 70s and have continued to be some of the most sought-after and collectible wines in the world bar none.
Now that's just scratching the surface with so much more to explore from this fabulous variety. With some of the best local and international examples open to try you won't want to miss this.
Enjoy
The Team at PWS
The Cabernet Story - Jancis Robinson
Cabernet Sauvignon, the world’s most renowned, but relatively recent, red wine grape, that is now the world’s most-planted grape variety, total plantings having more than doubled beween 1990 (when it was the world’s eighth most planted variety) and 2010 to nearly 300,000 ha. From its power base in Bordeaux, where it is almost invariably blended with other grapes, it was taken up in other French wine regions and in much of the Old and New Worlds, where it has been blended to create bordeaux blends and with indigenous varieties and is often used to produce pure varietal wine, especially in warmer climates.
Perhaps the most extraordinary aspect of Cabernet Sauvignon is its ability to produce a wine that is so recognizably Cabernet, even if remarkably few wine regions, considering its ubiquity, have so far proved reliable sources of seriously top-quality expressions of this potentially top-quality grape: médoc, pessac-léognan, napa, sonoma, santa cruz mountains, washington State, bolgheri, coonawarra, margaret river, and part of penedès spring most readily to mind.
What makes Cabernet Sauvignon remarkable to taste is not primarily its exact fruit flavour—which is sometimes likened to blackcurrants or cigar boxes—but its structure and its ability to provide the perfect vehicle for individual vintage characteristics, winemaking and élevage techniques, and, especially, local physical attributes, or terroir. Unlike chardonnay, which is as widely disseminated, late-ripening Cabernet Sauvignon must be grown in relatively warm climates, and can in some years fail to reach full ripeness even somewhere as mild as the Médoc.
It is Cabernet Sauvignon’s remarkable concentration of phenolics that really sets it apart from most other widely grown vine varieties. It is therefore capable of producing deeply coloured wines worthy of long maceration and long-term ageing. Over the centuries, it has demonstrated a special but by no means exclusive affinity for densely textured French oak. The particular appeal of Cabernet Sauvignon lies much less in primary fruit aromas (with which other varieties such as Gamay and Pinot Noir are more obviously associated) than in the much more subtle flavour compounds that evolve over years of bottle ageing from complex interaction between compounds derived from fruit, fermentation, alcohol, and oak. It is also true, however, that so distinctive is Cabernet Sauvignon’s imprint on the palate memory that part of the reason why it is so widely planted is that even when irrigated to greedily high yields and hastily vinified without even a glimpse of wood, it can produce a wine with some recognizable relationship to the great Bordeaux growths of the Médoc and Graves on which its reputation has been built.
Cabernet Sauvignon’s origins for long remained shrouded in mystery but all was revealed in 1997, thanks to dna profiling. Bowers and Meredith of the University of California at davis showed beyond all reasonable doubt that Cabernet Sauvignon’s parents are none other than cabernet franc and the Bordeaux white wine grape sauvignon blanc, a cross that is thought to have happened spontaneously in one of the many vineyards planted with a mixture of different vines in the old days. This neatly explains why Cabernet Sauvignon can smell like either or both of its parents, and why Cabernet Franc is mentioned in the literature long before Cabernet Sauvignon.
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Hobo Wine Camp Alexander Valley Cabernet 2021The grapes for this wine come about 82% from our own block in Mitch Patin’s Lloyd Vineyard on West Soda Rock Road planted in 1998 towards the southern end of Alexander Valley on the banks of the Russian River. 11% comes from the Larrick Vineyard that we farm, and the remaining 7% is Malbec from J. Rickard in Cloverdale.
As always, this wine was produced more like a Pinot more than a Cab. Fermented in open-tops with native yeasts, punched down by hand, and racked to barrels before being aged in 2nd fill French oak barrels for 15 months.
2021Cabernet SauvignonUSA362$49.00 As low as $44.10 -
Forman Cabernet Sauvignon 2020Cabernet …… who drinks Cabernet anymore? I mean we can't all hang out in exclusive "Gentlemen's Clubs in Mayfair" can we?
So I was super surprised when I had a chance to taste an older (2018) vintage of the Forman Cabernet a few months ago which was superb - so I couldn't wait to have a crack at the new vintage. California cabernet - all big, juicy and ripe fruit….. right? Nope - definitely not. There were layers of blueberry fruit, dusty chocolate, coffee bean, black cherry - and lovely hint of sweet spice and graphite minerality. Also a hint of oak supporting the rich - but definitely not over ripe - fruit. With a little time in the glass fantastic savoury notes popped up … think sage, bay leaf all adding wonderful complexity and interest to the wine.
This wasn't an over ripe jammy new world Cabernet … nor was it an austere/mouth puckering Bordeaux - just a wonderful balanced wine - drink up! MATT O'CONNOR, PWS
The 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon is a powerful, deep wine that marries elegance and finesse in a way few people can do, like Ric Forman. Rich and sumptuous in the glass, with terrific depth, the 2020 has so much to offer. Black cherry, mocha, licorice, spice, incense and new leather are all dialed up. Although it is early, this 2020 is shaping up to be one of the finer wines of the year.
ANTONIO GALLONI, vinous
The 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley has to be seen as a success in the vintage, revealing a solid bouquet of red and black fruits, tobacco leaf, cigar, and toasted spices. These carry to a medium to full-bodied Cabernet with a good sense of balance, moderate tannins, and outstanding length. It's well done and should evolve for another decade at a minimum. I followed this bottle for multiple days, and it always showed well. JEB DUNNUCK2020Cabernet SauvignonUSA446$295.00 As low as $265.50 -
Yeringberg Cabernets 2021STAFF PICKS 2024 - MICHAEL MCNAMARA
This is Yeringberg at its best - medium weighted but with fruit and touches of oak seasoning persistent and pulsing through the body of the wine. Nothing is overstated but you never feel like anything is missing either, such wonderful balance. An Aussie icon that shows where less intervention and artiface delivers so much more. MICHAEL MCNAMARA
A blend of 58/14/14/9/5% cabernet sauvignon/cabernet franc/merlot/petit verdot/malbec. Matured 20 months in French barriques (35% new). Bright crimson purple. From a great year, this is a beautifully fragrant and seductive Yeringberg with its aromas of blackcurrants, blueberries, cherry blossom, violets and just the right amount of oak-derived cedar and pencil-shaving scents. The epitome of medium bodied, it's elegant, discreet and persistent on the palate, even at this early juncture. Equally important, the fruit is perfectly framed by the wine's fine-grained and silky tannins and, as has been demonstrated on many occasions, this will mature slowly and gracefully. 98 PHILIP RICH, wine companion2021Cabernet SauvignonAustralia506$110.00 As low as $99.00 -
Cignale 2018A rich, exuberant wine, the 2018 Cignale is packed with blue/purplish fruit, leather, tobacco, spice, menthol, incense and chocolate. Even with all of its intensity, the 2018 retains terrific freshness as well as energy. It's one of the better recent vintages for this Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot blend. ANTONIO GALLONI, vinous2018Cabernet BlendsItaly495$165.00 As low as $148.50 -
Oakridge 864 Cabernet Sauvignon 2021Fruit from a 1996-planted vineyard. Four weeks post-fermentation maceration, matured in French barriques (35% new) for 15 months. Virtually identical winemaking to the Original Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon but, as always, this is the denser, more powerful and structured wine. On the nose there's a core of perfectly ripened black fruits, crushed violets, dark chocolate and graphite. The medium bodied, firmly structured and persistent palate is equally good, and anyone fortunate enough to still have a bottle 10–15 years (if not longer) from now will be well rewarded. 97 PHILIP RICH, wine companion2021Cabernet SauvignonAustralia506$110.00 As low as $99.00 -
Oakridge LVS Barkala Cabernet Sauvignon 2021From one of the few cabernet vineyards in the Upper Yarra; planted at 240m elevation in Wandin East. Matured in French barriques (30% new) for 15 months. A medium crimson purple. Perfectly ripened cabernet fruit exhibiting aromas of dark cherry, violets, a little bramble and some complexing bell pepper. Medium bodied and compact, the fruit has swallowed up the oak and while it's a touch firm once it fleshes out a little (and it will) this should provide considerable pleasure for a decade or so. (95) PHILIP RICH, Halliday Wine Companion
Vivid purple-red colour, not that deep but very bright. Attractive red berry aromas, including blueberry, the bouquet fruit driven. There are cassis and red berry flavours galore, the palate is medium-full bodied, poised and elegant, with seamless flow and effortless charm. Tannins are fine grained yet persistent, supplying excellent structure. A lovely wine and very much in Yarra Valley style. (93) HUON HOOKE, The Real Review2021Cabernet SauvignonAustralia506$45.00 As low as $40.50 -
Giant Steps Sexton Cabernet Sauvignon 2022While Giant Steps' enviable reputation was built on the back of its single-vineyard pinots, that didn't stop it from taking out trophies for best shiraz and cabernet at the 2023 Yarra Valley Wine Show. A medium deep, bright crimson-purple, this elegant and concentrated wine has aromas of dark cherries, blackcurrant, ugni, cedar from the impeccably handled oak, and violets. The palate is medium bodied and perfectly pitched. This is another superb Yarra cabernet that dispels the notion that you'll have to cellar it for ages to enjoy. (97) PHILIP RICH, Halliday Wine Companion
When the Yarra Valley does Cabernet Sauvignon well …This is a beautiful medium-bodied red wine. It’s svelte, it’s laced with tannin, it blooms with fruit as it rests in the glass, and it’s balanced on a pinhead. Blackcurrant, mulberry, cedarwood, bay leaf and cigar box; it’s all here, and it all plays deliciously. For all that, the length of this wine’s finish ultimately vies to be the main highlight; here, red licorice is added to the show, along with everything else. (95) CAMPBELL MATTINSON
2022Cabernet SauvignonAustralia506$91.00 As low as $81.90