Great idea!

Haha. Aren’t we all

Thanks for watching Paul 🙏

Thanks Wyatt!

Thanks for watching!

A pleasure Eliza, and a pre-emptive welcome to WA!

Thanks Harry! Glad you made it that far through the video 🙏

Exactly right. And focusing on producers and vineyards is key. These great vintages often yield beauty in all corners!

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

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.

Incredible wine. Give it a couple more years before you open any... and it might outlive you

Agree!

Thanks for watching Chris - I’m sure we’ll meet at Lamont’s one day!

A very powerful, structured vintage. Will cellar beautifully.

Special wines, especially with some age!

Nice wine!

Great idea 🙏

Excellent suggestion Ben. The quality of the premium reds coming out of the Great Southern is extremely impressive. And it’s only increasing.

The best!

I’d agree with that!

I was looking at the Biodynamic calendar. You can google it to see - Fruit and Flower days are the optimal drinking and assessment days.

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!

We love it! The best they’ve released to date.

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.

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

...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.

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!

You won’t regret that.

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 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 KZfaq 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.

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!