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98
/ 100
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95
/ 100
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95
/ 100
Tasting Notes
This wine embodies our heritage, our future and our dreams. The realisation of a dream seeded by Rob’s grandfather, Jack Mann. Rob recalls being allowed to taste a 1971
Houghton Cabernet at dinner with Jack and his wife Angela at just 10 years old and decided there and then that Cabernet was his future. It’s a privilege to see that dream come to life.
Unorthodox in style, this is a unique expression of Margaret River Cabernet. The fifth release from our dry grown, organically farmed Calgardup Vineyard. Located just 2 km inland from the famous Redgate Beach in Margaret River. The fruit was harvested by hand on the last day of March, individually berry sorted prior to natural, whole berry fermentation in a single French oak vat. Maturation followed in seasoned French oak demi muids for 14 months. The mild dry season was close to perfect, and we could not be more excited about this release. The wines from this vintage have a clarity, freshness and density which bodes well for showing well early, but these will be long lived wines having a wonderful tannin spine and lively acidity. Pomegranate, crème de cassis, violets and rolled tobacco combine for a fragrant and lifted aroma. The wine tastes of the grape, the dirt and the sea with bright black fruits and Dutch licorice complemented by wet slate and nori notes. Medium bodied but packed with personality it has incredible length. It’s worth decanting and pulling out your best glasses despite having to then wash and dry them by hand.
Tasting Profile
- Light
- Full
- Low Tannin
- Tannic
- Sweet
- Dry
- Low Acidity
- High Acidity
Classification: Red
Variety: Cabernet Sauvignon
Vintage: 2023
Bottle Size: 750ml (Bottle)
Country: Australia
Region: Western Australia, Margaret River
Alcohol %: 13.8%
Cellaring: 15 Plus Years
Scores
98 / 100"The 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon springs from a most glorious season in Western Australia (WA), and in particular, Margaret River. I judged at eight wine shows last season, six of which had classes of wines from Western Australia in 2023. It is my estimation that 2023 was a vintage that extracted the very best from every variety in every region in WA, and some of those classes—the Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon classes at the Margaret River wine show, for example—numbered among the most pleasurable classes of wines that I have ever judged in over 50 wine shows. So, to this wine. It's is aromatic and leafy and layered with cassis, flaked milk chocolate, cracked peppercorns, nori sheets and mulberry. This has everything aromatically, but it is in the mouth where the tannins steal the show. This is elegant, finely milled, soft in its way—pliable and ductile, not "soft"—and so long through the finish. It's a remarkable wine, made all the more remarkable by its élevage in a large-format old oak vat (1,600 liters), which allows the fruit and the natural tannins to really shine. It is 100% berry sorted and fermented and aged in old oak. This is the lowest pH Cabernet made from this Corymbia vineyard in Calgardup in Margaret River, and it is also the greatest. It is a statement and a pleasure. My emphatic advice is to find it if you can. 13.8% alcohol, sealed under screw cap. 98 points. Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate March 2025"
- Erin Larkin
95 / 100
"The vineyard here is kind of like a secret garden, nestled just a little east of Redgate beach. Lots of seaweed and sea spray, blackcurrant, ripe redcurrant, a little aniseed and dried rosy perfume. It’s medium-bodied, crisp and juicy, all redcurrant and raspberry, some biscuit flavour, an emery board fine grainy rub to tannin, lots of juicy red fruited energy, a crisp seaweed and umami flavour here, and the finish is saline and long. Very different to your average MR Cabernet, and the relief from oak is also a treat. Excellent. 95 points. Gary Walsh, The Winefront July 2024"
- Gary Walsh
95 / 100
"Rob and Genevieve Mann are all about expressing their place at Calgardup, and it’s exciting to witness. This is the fifth release off their vineyard, and it entices with heady aromatics of violets and raspberry leaf alongside an array of flavours from cassis, redcurrants and mulberries to nori, Dutch licorice and baking spices. Lots of umami, too, and an ironstone character pops up across the fuller-bodied palate. Precise, almost velvety tannins in unison with lively acidity. Oh, and no new oak used. It’s a refreshing take, with plenty of fruit tannins to ensure this has depth and ageability. 95 points. Jane Faulkner, Wine Companion Oct 2023"
- Jane Faulkner
