2018 Margaret River Cabernet: Worth the HYPE?
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- Опубликовано: 25 авг 2024
- John Jens (JJ) joins me to revisit six of the greatest Cabernet Sauvignons made in Margaret River in 2018: Margaret River's greatest Cabernet vintage. The question is: how are these wines looking four years on - was the fuss warranted?
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2018 Vasse Felix Tom Cullity Cabernet Malbec, Margaret River (Wilyabrup)
2018 Deep Woods Estate Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Margaret River (Yallingyup)
2018 Moss Wood Cabernet Sauvignon, Margaret River (Wilyabrup)
2018 Cullen Diana Madeline Cabernet Sauvignon, Margaret River (Wilyabrup)
2018 Xanadu Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Margaret River (Wallcliffe)
2018 Woodlands Xavier Cabernet Sauvignon, Margaret River (Wilyabrup)
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Any review you see on my socials ( / erinllarkin , this channel and my website (www.erinlarkin...) are never paid for by wineries or anyone else: the wines are featured on their merits - because they have risen to the top in tastings. If you try the wines I recommend and you like them - good! Because so do I.
I look forward to every episode but love it when I see you two in the thumbnail haha the chemistry is great on tasting and speaking on the wines it’s always a treat to listen in!
Thanks Wyatt!
I am broke today because of 2018... Great video guys.
Haha. Aren’t we all
Hi Erin I have an idea for you. Would you like to do a video with John on designing your cellar for most people? Like if you consider a 20 year drinking timetable what should you purchase.
Great idea!
thank you so much for this video. I am a kiwi moving to WA soon and your run through of these wines and clonal explanation with your vast experience and skill are fantastic. This has really helped me to know a bit more about Cab and Chard and WA in general. Thank you for sharing.
A pleasure Eliza, and a pre-emptive welcome to WA!
You guys work/taste together so well it is great to listen 🍷
Thanks for watching Paul 🙏
The little deep dives into the teams and your thoughts on the dynamics of the industry (e.g at 27:35 or so) etc. are really interesting and definitely add to the tasting notes here. Agree, great video
Thanks Harry! Glad you made it that far through the video 🙏
Erin, this is by far one of your best videos ever (together with your tasting of Standish 2018 and 2019) I love your collaboration with JJ here. I've been on a mission to try to find these vintages from these producers, but it's not easy, especially in Sweden.
I would really like if you could do a tasting of the wines from Utopos Winery. I think winemaker Kym Teusners wines are the best if you consider price and quality
Keep up the good work, you're great!!
I sympathise with you - it is hard to find these wines. Not impossible, but certainly challenging. Have you contacted the producers directly? The Woodlands might still be available, same as the Vasse. I know moss wood sold out two years ago, as did the deep woods… Xanadu ‘might’ still have some?
I like the Utopos wines. Kym Teusner is an old hat at this, and it shows in that range. Smart packaging, too. Not that that impacts wine quality.
Thanks for watching, and for your comments 🙏
@@erinlarkin Just a question regarding Xanadu Cabernet Reserve 2019, I know you scored this 97 p (Halliday Scoring). If you compare 2019 to 2018, how available are 2019 rigth now? Or, for how long do you think you should wait before opening the first bottle?
The Cabernets at Xanadu are very pure and drink well on release. They age well too. I would suggest giving the Chardonnays some time prior to opening (circa 5 years) but the Cabernets, depending on your tolerance for young Cabernet, can be drunk with pleasure at virtually any time.
How cool Indeed and thank you both for this tasting!
Thanks for watching!
Glad to hear the thoughts on the Moss Wood as one of the best vintages. Got two cases of the '18 MW 😁
Incredible wine. Give it a couple more years before you open any... and it might outlive you
Love the purity and fruit in say the Vanya and the Cloudburst Cabernets. And the DM 18 was delicious drinking on release. I don’t always get the biodynamic calendar. That tea note was so lovely though!
Enjoying the cooler years at the moment and laying down the ‘18. Will note Moss wood isn’t as approachable for the consumer young - and doesn’t have a proper cellar door. Woodlands is the most family friendly, have a lovely cheese wheel and very welcoming.
What a fabulous line up.
Brilliant wines. Fruit purity appears in good sites in margs, the makers and the vintages shape the wines after that. The biodynamic calendar can be confusing, I don’t adhere to it, but do take note occasionally
Two of my favourite wine people in Australia, not had the pleasure of meeting you yet Erin but JJ is a very special person and my go to place for wine tasting! What a fantastic video yet again Erin and 2018 does indeed take a shelf in my cellar. I have one of all of these and can’t wait to taste them again sometime in the future, maybe 2028 would be a great year! ❤
Thanks for watching Chris - I’m sure we’ll meet at Lamont’s one day!
Thanks Erin and John, this video inspired me to buy some 2018 Margs Cab Sav. Even though my pockets are not deep enough for the flagships, the 2nd wine of these wineries is still outstanding. Incredible balance of fruit, spice and Savoury notes. Cheers
Exactly right. And focusing on producers and vineyards is key. These great vintages often yield beauty in all corners!
The 2018 Moss Wood is absurdly good.
Agree!
Well this has me googling my regular suppliers in oz to try and get a case of 2018 to put into storage. I’ve tried most of these as other vintages but you’ve spruiked the Margaret river ‘18 previously so I’m listening and will add a case to try and keep for a little while
A very powerful, structured vintage. Will cellar beautifully.
Agree that Woodlands Cabernet ages beautifully and having collected a lot of 2001 Margaret River the Woodlands was the best amongst peers after two decades. The 2004 and 2005 were amazing as well.
Special wines, especially with some age!
Great line up Erin, even better if Junipers Cornerstone Karridale 18 was there giving them a run for their money ( I'm doing their exports :)
Nice wine!
I think the hard thing about that 2018 vintage in WA is which wine do you not buy? And buying them all is expensive!! @ Erin Larkin great content - any chance JJ and yourself can dona Margret River cabernet Vs Left bank Bordeaux video?
Great idea 🙏
Erin - how about a best of the Great Southern red version? Forest Hill Block 9 2018, Duke’s 2018 Morrisey, Singlefile Philip Adrian 2018, frankland river wines etc etc
Great video.
Excellent suggestion Ben. The quality of the premium reds coming out of the Great Southern is extremely impressive. And it’s only increasing.
at 6:54 JJ says the '18 Tom Cullity is amongst best 4-5 MR cabernet's ever ever wow!
I’d agree with that!
Erin do you have any inside knowledge of what happened to the 2018 Houghton Gladstone's and Jack Mann? I previously enjoyed these wines. They have slipped over the 2018 vintage which seems unusual given the quality of 2018.
It was one of the greatest tragedies in Western Australian wines, Stephen. Accolade (which owns Houghton) sold the cellar door and vineyards as part of the swan valley sale. All wine was transported to a warehouse in Bibra Lake. The warehouse then burnt to the ground (apparently an air conditioning unit on the roof), taking all of the stock (both historical and future releases) with it. 2018 was in that fire, and not yet released. It never will be.
Those are some good solid wines
The best!
Hi Erin, what were you checking regards the lunar cycle vs. the Cullen? Is there a moon phase they recommend when drinking?
I was looking at the Biodynamic calendar. You can google it to see - Fruit and Flower days are the optimal drinking and assessment days.
So very interesting, have a few of the Woodlands one so was going to sit on them but now really can't wait to taste.
Any chance you could review some of the sub $50 or sub $30 MR Cab Savs?
On the list 👍🏼
The Woodlands ‘17s are more approachable than the 16 and 18 at the moment. The Margaret is beautiful drinking and the Chloe Anne opens up nicely with a bit of time in the glass/decanter. The great thing about Woodlands is that if you attend any of their member tasting/dinners or even cellar door they’ll often happily pour you a vertical!
They’re very generous with their museum wines!
Hello! Just wanted to check, what are both your thoughts on the Leeuwin Estate Art Series 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon? Thanks!
We love it! The best they’ve released to date.
Interesting omission of Cape Mentelle as one of the blue blood wineries of Margaret River. One of the original five (along with Miss Wood, Leeuwin, Cullen and Vasse). Probably did as much as any winery to establish Margs cabernet (two consecutive Jimmy Watson's). Do you think that they have slipped?
...or is it just that Cape Mentelle have not yet released their 2018
Cape Mentelle is a really important part of Margaret River’s history, and the string of Jimmy’s in the early 80’s were some great days, as were the Rob Mann days in the early to middle 2000’s. I believe we will see some great things from Cape Mentelle in the coming years.
Winemaker changes, owner changes, and big changes in style of their flagship cab sav, like a pendulum. But they are my favourite winery, still.
I have a few bottles of most of these Erin and if I wanted to spend another $600 to chase down and top up the cellar with more of these six how would you play it???
I’d probably get one TC, one DW, one Xavier, and then depending on what you can source, one MW or one DM. All magical wines
I have a bottle of that Moss wood 2018, must be patient...
You won’t regret that.
I’d love to learn more about the key factors that make, for example, the Woodlands Xavier a more premium wine than the Margaret.
How much do the organic aspects of a wine (terroir, weather, etc) contribute to the final product compared to the inorganic/wine-making elements? Obviously both are important, but should equal importance be given to each?
I’m trying to see through the obvious difference in price points for wines to attract a bigger market and just get better at identifying quality.
I would like to hope that one day I’ll be able to do a tasting flight of current releases and identify those key factors that make a great wine so I can buy a case of the best bang for buck for cellaring.
I bought a case of the 2018 Margaret with the hope it will cellar into a premium wine. Is this naive?
Margaret is of course a different Bordeaux blend to Xavier; 80/10/10 Cabernet, Merlot, Malbec compared to Xavier’s 93/6/1 Cabernet, Malbec, Franc. But I’d like to think it will also cellar for almost as long.
I previously bought a case of the 2012 Margaret and found it only cellared for ~5yrs before starting the decline.
Curious to hear your thoughts Erin!
Great and detailed question here! Perhaps I need to do a video on wine quality 🤔
Maybe that 2012 Margaret just went into a quiet place, wines for that. Have you got any left? Where did you store it? Where did you buy it from?
@@erinlarkin I bought them from the chief wine maker (I believe) at the Good Food and Wine Show way back. And, admittedly, kept them in the centre of the house on the floor in the dark; not ideal but it was the best available.
A wine fridge has since been procured and the ‘18 Margaret couldn’t be happier. I just hope it has those key factors that will make it become even better with time.
I was just in Dans and they’re selling the 2012 Margaret for $68, the 2011 for $75, and the 2011 “Alex” Cabernet for $130. I wonder why these aged Cabernets from a world-class Cabernet region didn’t keep going up in price?
I think that, at this stage, Margaret river still represents exceptional value for money. That may change in time, but for now, we are still able to access these excellent wines for relatively very little. Your 2018 Margaret, in the fridge and under screwcap will live forever - so no, it was not naive. In fact the opposite. I remember when that wine was $40. Even now at $75 it’s still value.
I totally agree r.e. price. I actually got the 2012 Margaret for $30/bottle! Good negotiating on the last day of the Good Food & Wine Show haha. We bought 2 cases - gone now.
I came back from Napa in early September and a tasting flight over there was minimum $40 USD. A tasting! And the average MR Cabernet is, IMO, far higher in quality. I’m trying to stock my cellar now with great MR wines before its too late.
If you ever host a wine quality education event, a blind wine tasting, or a “what questions to ask for building conviction on buying wines to cellar”session, I’ll fly back home to WA and join.
I’ll keep that in mind Michael, and agree with you RE the value/delicacy/power.quality of MR Cabernet. They won’t always be cheap like they are now!
This is all great. Re pronunciation, where are you getting the cab sav pronounciation where you say savigmIn? I have only ever heard it pronounced savignOn & it’s a little distracting from the main content of the video #firstworldproblems
Thanks so much for watching the video Jeremy. It’s fairly common in Australia for pronunciation to swing both ways. I’ve always said it like this. I initially responded with ‘tomaytos and tomahtos’, but it occurred to me that perhaps that doesn’t quite cover it! I couldn’t tell you what got me saying it that way. How do you say it?
@@erinlarkin hey erin, just as per that youtube clip but all good. Great vid 🙂
The major job of a competent wine critic is not to tell people how good the wine is, but put out an honest description of the juice, more importantly, the flaw or imperfections it has, so the audience can make their mind to purchase it or not. It's not too difficult to find out some 'flaw' in any wine, all I hear here is how good these wines are, ripe, complex, savory, settled..., in the end, I don't want to buy any of them because I don't know what may make me regret buying it.
The criticism of these wines is the same as their acclaim: they’re ripe wines from a ripe year. That power will help with their longevity. It may not be to everyone’s style. I critically assess between 100-500 wines a week - there are plenty that don’t make the cut, for one reason or another. If you’re interested in seeing the context that I put these wines into, you can read my reviews on RobertParker.com. At least that way you’ll gain a clear view of how I construct my notes and explain the context of each of the wines.
At the end of the day, very few wines on the planet are perfect - and even that is subjective. As drinkers we must find writers who align with our palates. Thanks for watching!
Hi William. Admire your thought processes. There are of course many views on what a wine writer's role should be ... but this is the first time that someone has put it to me that they judge the quality of a wine by its faults and not by its inherent fruit and winemaking qualities. In your spirit of openness with your views, I too have thought about this seriously for decades. I have come to the conclusion that, in my opinion of course - which is all that it can be, that a wine writer should only review ... which equals "recommend" in my view ... the best 2-3 wines tasted, in their opinions, in every variety/style and price range. ie, the best cabernets under $15, $25, $50, $75 etc. Erin does not agree ... but there are many views on this. Wine is a significant part of my life and I have written wine columns for decades and have had weekly wine radio programs for many years. I have over 250,000 tasting notes of my own on file. As a retailer and restaurateur for over 40 years - and the largest wine retailer at the top end of the market in Perth for most of that time, I have always taken the position of recommending wine on its qualities when compared to its price peers ... and this has served me well. However, you obviously have me thinking now and I will ponder your thoughts and see where they take me. Thank you so much. Really interesting angle to come from. I don't mind of course if you don't buy these wines, (largely sold out) as that is your choice ... but if you do want some of Oz's greatest cabernets for the years to come, wines such as Wynns in various price ranges and Mount Mary, along with those discussed in the video would certainly be the ones that I'd be chasing - and especially if from the finest vintages. As I need/would like to do some homework on your faults hypothesis, which reviewers do you recommend that I start following to get an example of rating wines by the description of their faults? Thanks for the input, really interesting. John Jens
@@johnjens147 Wow, never expect such a serious reply to a nobody- me! Appreciate it! I live in America, as a wine lover, like to explore all kinds of wines. Maybe because I just returned from a trip to Australia, Erin's video was fed to my RUclips viewing which I actually enjoyed, mostly her eloquence & your humor. Not many Australian wines made to this side of the Pacific, so my experience is really limited. A month ago, I opened 2007 RWT, really liked it: matured, austere in a good way, lighter fruits allows me to appreciate the complexity, balance & spicy power. 2 weeks ago, I drank 2018 Grange, lush fruits obviously, seamless with good depth. Of course Grange is a better quality Shiraz than RWT, but I have to admit I enjoyed my RWT more. So this is my point, I wish a wine critic like you would tell me that. BTW, Chapelle d'Ausone 2009 is much better in every way than the Grange, only half to a third in price. After drinking a few hundred bottles, most drinkers would form a clear template of a perfect wine in mind, we may never encounter one, so any wines to us have some 'flaws' or imperfections in some way, it doesn't mean they are bad but fall short in some areas. That is what I expect from a critic before my purchase decision.
Are you guys ever disappointed with any of the wines you review? The case of Deep Woods 2018 Cabernet I had was just that. Disappointing. Same with the Tom Cullity. Cullens Cabernets from the 90’s prior to all the biodynamic marketing were generally better in my opinion to their current output. Maybe it’s just my palate. And of course you can never divorce oneself from the value proposition.
I was disappointed with the Tom Cullity 2018 drinking it young too.
However I recently opened a bottle and drank it over 3 days. It got better on the second day and was absolutely stunning on the third.
If you have a few more bottles and want to open another while young, I recommend trying it this way.
I'm leaving the rest of mine for a while yet before trying again.
This is a really interesting question. I think long and hard about all the scores and reviews I commit to. Often, I am taking far more into consideration deliciousness or early appeal. For me, for a wine to achieve 95 or above, it must satisfy a medium to long term cellaring potential. This is because this pedigree of score put it’s up against all of its international peers - in the case of Cabernet, that means Napa, Bordeaux and Italy. So. To circle back to Tom Cullity, I have seen that wine blind in the company of same vintage first growth and it more than held its own with structure, length of flavour, freshness and power. At $180AUD, that makes it very good value. Secondly, with that wine in particular, I believe you must view it in a savoury frame: to me it speaks of iodine, nori, kelp, brine, star anise, pomegranate, raspberry. Decanting certainly helps it reach part of its potential if you’re drinking it early, but nothing will substitute patience.
Now - to settle the other part of your question: disappointment. Occasionally I look at a wine I have previously given a high score and think, ‘that isn’t quite how I remember it’. Many things can play into this, but wine fluctuates in the bottle, and maybe I caught it at a better time first time. I just have to trust that I paid the structural attributes correctly: line, length, structure, balance. Because these qualities will see it through a lifetime.
Does that address your thoughts?
Also… I taste 100-250 wines per week, so there is plenty of room for disappointment. It happens all the time, but that makes it all the more exciting when I come across a great one. Ebbs and flows.
I had a 2014 Tom Cullity a few months ago and I was disappointed but it was only because I realised we opened it far too early. In hindsight I wouldn’t have touched it for at least another 10 years.
The 2014 is my favourite Tom cullity! Perhaps it lacks some of the powerful drive of the 2018, but what it misses there it makes up for in charm and slinky fruit. That thing is a marvel! 2014 a most exceptional Cabernet vintage in Margaret River. Classical. I hope you have another bottle!