Xanadu Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon 2005
Style: Red Wine
Closure: Screwcap
Xanadu Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon 2005
Pick up
Burke Road
Camberwell VIC 3124
Australia
Producer: Xanadu
Country: Australia
Region: Margaret River
Vintage: 2005
Critic Score: ★★★★(★) and 92
Alcohol: 14.0%
Size: 750 ml
Drink by: Now
Trophy Best Older Red - QANTAS Wine Show of WA 2009
I'm always on the lookout for a Margaret River cabernet that deliver the goods but doesn't break the bank in the process – usually with very little success. Well, it's all good news with this beauty from the revitalised Xanudu stable, which has just celebrated the first anniversary of Rathbone Family ownership. The Rathbone Family, also owners of Yering Station in the Yarra Valley, Mount Langi Ghiran in the Grampians and Parker Estate in the Coonawarra, have built a reputation for uncompromising winemaking and viticulture; and this release of the 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon (with a small amount of merlot and cabernet franc included in the blend) certainly reflects the professionalism that they have brought to Xanadu.
"Too much Margaret River Cabernet is barely enough if you ask me. Anyway, I really like this. Just to make it perfectly clear, this comes with my emphatic approval in all departments - value, quality, style etc. It has a delightful violet and gum leaf perfume over mulberry, blackcurrant and chocolate with a handful of gravel thrown in for good measure. On the palate medium to full bodied with perfectly ripe fruit offering blackcurrant, mulberry, chocolate, some more earthy flavours and a touch of leafiness. It has fine firm tannins and feels beautifully balanced from start to finish. A delightful wine of considerable grace and sophistication." Gary Walsh
Expert reviews
"Youthful purple-red colour; a clean, fresh bouquet with an array of ripe gravelly/ blackcurrant/cassis fruit; then a palate with lovely depth, texture and structure, with beautifully balanced and integrated French oak. The wine has lovely mouthfeel for such a young wine and fine supporting tannins." Nick Munday, Canterbury Wines
"Classic Margaret River cabernet, with a mix of blackcurrant, black olive and briar, the tannins savoury but balanced; will evolve further. 14º alc. Drink Now - 2015." James Halliday, Halliday Wine Companion - 92 points
"This arrived yesterday, in amongst a couple of dozen other samples, and because I am a Cabernet man I wasted no time in tucking in. Too much Margaret River Cabernet is barely enough if you ask me. Anyway, I really like this and I have 92 or 93 scribbled on my pad, but as we all know (I hope) the score is only a small part of the story, so just to make it perfectly clear, this comes with my emphatic approval in all departments - value, quality, style etc.
It has a delightful violet and gum leaf perfume over mulberry, blackcurrant and chocolate with a handful of gravel thrown in for good measure. On the palate medium to full bodied with perfectly ripe fruit offering blackcurrant, mulberry, chocolate, some more earthy flavours and a touch of leafiness. It has fine firm tannins and feels beautifully balanced from start to finish. A delightful wine of considerable grace and sophistication. Drink: 2008 – 2015." Gary Walsh, Winorama - 92 points
"Fine, eucalyptus earth and pure cassis fruit aroma. Big, firm layer of tannin. Masses of ripe cassis fruit. A super wine. Young, worth the wait. Drink from 2012." Decanter.com ★★★★(★)
Awards
Trophy Best Older Red - QANTAS Wine Show of WA 2009
Western Australia
Western Australia is home to more than 400 wineries across nine vast and extraordinary wine regions which are almost entirely concentrated in the south-west and great southern land divisions of the State. The regions are Blackwood Valley, Geographe, Great Southern, Peel, Pemberton, Manjimup, Margaret River and Swan District.
The oldest region is the Swan Valley, the best known both nationally and internationally is Margaret River and the largest is Great Southern. The Great Southern region is further divided into the five subregions of Albany, Denmark, Frankland River, Mount Barker and Porongurup.
The history of wine production in Western Australia dates back to 1840 with the establishment of Sandalford in the Swan Valley region. The recognition of the fine wine possibilities started to be realised after the establishment of the Margaret River Region in 1967, which has become renowned for its high quality Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. The other regions produce a diverse range of regionally distinct wines, from stunning Rieslings and evocative Shiraz, to a range of unique Cabernet Sauvignon blends.