2012 Wilyabrup Cabernet Merlot, Cabernet Franc

A unique expression of the traditional cabernet blend, hand-picked from amongst the oldest vines in the Wilyabrup sub-region of Margaret River. This wine captures the unique synergy of site, varieties and vintage to create a wine with exceptional vibrancy or character for which this area is so highly regarded. Luscious dark fruits with great density and characteristic fine gravely tannins are the hallmarks of this unique sub-region.
Top 100 Australian Wine Vintages
This vintage has been selected by Australia’s longest running wine guide, AUSTRALIAN WINE VINTAGES, as one of the top 100 Australian wines of 2016, for its outstanding synthesis of variety, region and style.
Australian Wine Companion
A 45/33/24% blend of cabernet sauvignon, merlot and cabernet franc, destemmed and berry-sorted, then fermented for up to 30 days; matured in French barriques (40% new) for 16 months. A high-toned, savoury wine with plum, tobacco and cedar in play, the tannins fine, the balance is impeccable.
The West Australian Wine Guide 2016
This is a blend of cabernet sauvignon, merlot and cabernet franc from a single vineyard in the northern Wilyabrup region. There is a deep complexity in here with medium to full palate providing the perfect platform to express the beautiful texture and fruit flavours. It’s so smooth and silky yet there is power and richness. Lovely the distinctive meaty blackcurrant characters that seem to come from this vineyard.
Decanter
Well-tempered, tightly coiled and classically elegant. Effortlessly crafted and exceedingly persistent, a second label with the longevity, self-assurance and poise of many premier wines.
The Australian Wine Annual 2015
An elegant, dusty and faintly sappy blend of charming length and harmony. An intense fragrance of violets, red flowers, forest berries, fresh cedar/vanilla oak overlies nuances of graphite and dried herbs. It's medium to full-bodied, smooth and seamless, with a pristine expression of dark berries, plums and cherries knit with polished cedary oak and underpinned by pliant, fine-grained tannins, building intensity and structure towards its long, savoury and faintly mineral finish.
The wine Front August 2014
From an unofficial sub-region, as yet not trademarked. 43% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, 24% Cabernet Franc. It’s a lighter, more perfumed style for sure. Less of the thunder, more of the cirrus with picnics below. Redcurrant, sweet grass, rolling tobacco and mint, plum skin, cocoa and cocoa butter. Medium bodied, fresh and playful with mainly red fruits, aniseed and cocoa, lovely fine acidity and a light rasp of fine grained gravelly tannin. I thought it was a kind of Lexus at first, and then its charm grew on me. It has length. And a sort of suave appeal. Should cellar very well too.
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