The potential here is almost unlimited. In fact, it may well become the best Leeuwin cabernet yet. It's a stylish and brilliant expression of variety, location and vintage. Perfumed red and black fruits with a violet lift. Just a trace of bay leaf and a little seashell minerality. The palate is elegantly structured but there are firm fine bony tannins and ample oak to support and draw it through to a sustained finish. Has all it needs to handle extended cellaring.
96 POINTS
Ken Gargett - Winepilot
A fascinating wine which offers all the amazing qualities that Margaret River Cabernet possesses, but it walks the fine line with nuances of Bordeaux, more than most. It works wonderfully well. The wine incorporates 2% Malbec. All up, the wine spends 22 months in French oak. Crimson/blood red hue, it offers entrancing complexity. There are notes of tobacco leaves, black fruits, chocolate, smoked meats, licorice, a touch of ever-so-slightly charry cloves and quality oak, which is superbly handled here. A silky texture, this is a wine of balance and length with the finest tannins. Intensity runs the full length. Eerily reminiscent of an Aussie version of Bordeaux (or possibly a Bordeaux version of Marg River?). Whichever, it is a cracking wine. Drink for twelve to fifteen years.
96 POINTS
Jane Faulkner - Halliday Wine Companion
One of the distinctive features of this wine, and in a way a DNA link to all Art Series cabernet, is its savouriness. It’s the rolled tobacco, nori, iodine and whiff of new leather plus the cedary oak, but these are not separate, they form a whole impression. There’s also the core of excellent fruit, the structure, the supple tannins and the bright acidity. And the joy of drinking it.
96 POINTS
Erin Larkin - Robert Parker Wine Advocate
The 2021 Art Series Cabernet Sauvignon will be released in the winter of 2024, and it's an interesting timeline, given the 2020 will be released this February. The 2021 season in Margaret River was frequently wet, and as a result, the character of the red wines is lighter in body and fruit weight. This 2021 wine is lighter in the glass than the 2020 (no surprise, given berry sizes in general in 2020), and the nose introduces dried herbs and exotic spice, alongside the raspberry, cassis and nori. Block 8 and block 9, which make up the backbone of this wine, are dry-grown, and this is an important point in the years that are markedly wet (2021, 2006) and dry (2024, 2022, 2020, etc.). On the palate, the wine is perfumed and fine, lightweight and flowing. It's a beautiful wine to drink now, thanks to its powdery tannins. It's all about the tannins here; it's whippy, like fresh new growth on a plant. I would drink this anytime from release; it offers tremendous pleasure just as it is. Sealed under screw cap.
96 POINTS
Erin Larkin - Robert Parker Wine Advocate
The 2021 Art Series Cabernet Sauvignon is lighter in color and tannic intensity than the 2020 tasted beside it. No surprise for the vintages that birthed these wines. The latter was sunny, hot and dry, while the 2021 season was decidedly cooler, with more cloud cover and rain. This wine bears the fruits of the diligent labor in the vineyards and is one of the shining lights in the region this year. There are notes of raspberry and nori, moss and petrichor, blood and forest floor. This is a lighter style of Cabernet—and a lovely one at that.
96 POINTS
Cassandra Charlick - Decanter
Immediately captivating: the nose is vibrant and energetic, while simultaneously the epitome of elegance and poise with restrained fruit power. This is a silk evening gown of a wine: form-fitting, precisely tailored, mellifluous and effortlessly chic. Abundant in aromatics and lifted perfume, fine red fruits include wild strawberry tip, bramble and just-ripe blackcurrant, alongside hints of piquancy: Szechwan pepper, clove and a fine dusting of deep, lightly toasted cocoa powder. There’s a charismatic iodine weave, the savoury and slightly saline minerality proving a foil to both the fruit flesh and the floral hues. Displaying extremely fine-grained tannins, it's firm, focused and delicate, with a graphite line, fresh acidity and plenty that will reveal itself in good time. Tasted pre-release.
The nose is perfumed and lifted, showing aromas of blackcurrants, boysenberries, cedar, tobacco leaves and graphite. The full-bodied palate has finely integrated tannins and focused acidity, giving complex notes of mulberries, wild blackberries, mocha and spices. Wonderfully balanced and fresh with an underlying power.
95 POINTS
Erin Larkin - Robert Parker Wine Advocate
On the palate, the wine is perfumed and fine, lightweight and flowing. It's a beautiful wine to drink now, thanks to its powdery tannins. It's all about the tannins here; it's whippy, like fresh new growth on a plant. I would drink this anytime from release; it offers tremendous pleasure just as it is
