2022 Xanadu "Estate" Cabernet Sauvignon Margaret River Western Australia

Year in year out this cabernet delivers – even in difficult years such as 2021 (rain events and high humidity during harvest). If anything, this is quite tight and needs more time in the cellar, if you can’t wait, decant. It reveals an exuberant fruit profile, given its youth, from mulberries and cassis to blackberries all offset by complex savoury notes, think nori, iodine and tapenade, a flutter of spice, too and a little smoky. It’s fine boned in a way, as it’s just medium-bodied with filigree tannins, neat acidity and a radicchio bitterness to finish. I kept coming back to this wine – it unfurled in the glass but also, a few days later, still impressive.