This wine has now achieved the most coveted accolade in Australian wine, with the 2016 vintage winning the Jimmy Watson Trophy. The 2018 vintage also won Langton’s James Halliday Australian Cabernet Challenge, awarding it the best Cabernet in Australia.
Xanadu has also won the Best Cabernet Trophy at the National Wine Show in Canberra the last 7 years in a row, most recently in 2019 with the 2017 vintage of this Cabernet. That’s a remarkable feat for a single producer and it’s rightly cemented the reputation both of Xanadu and long-time winemaker Glenn Goodall.
Over the last 11 years, Xanadu’s stable of extraordinary Cabernets has won a total of 46 trophies and 132 gold medals, a feat that speaks of consistency as much as it does of quality.
Technically Xanadu's 'third' Cabernet, this wine represents incredible value for the price point.
91% cabernet sauvignon, 5% malbec, 4% petit verdot, crushed and destemmed, static and open fermenters, 33% undergoing post-ferment maceration for four weeks, matured for 14 months in French oak (40% new) before blending. One of six '14 Xanadu cabernets, you really need to keep your wits about you. Great colour is no surprise, nor is the majesty of the cassis-filled bouquet and palate. While there is an element of barrel selection (and trickle down of lesser barrels, and possible promotion) each wine does have its own personality, part shaped by the vineyard, part in the winery. Here the extended maceration has refined the tannins without stripping the fruit. Drink to 2040. 96 points, Wine Companion.
Wonderful example of Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon. You just want to go up and give it a good cuddle. Richly textured with masses of blackcurrant fruit infused with light cedary oak. Touch of black olive and dusty concrete. Sounds funny, I know, but it's a good thing. Fine, sinewy tannins and plump, fleshy fruit controlled with that net of fine-grained oak. Best drinking, now to 2032. 94 points, West Australian.
Margaret River
Located three hours south of Perth, Margaret River is Western Australia’s most prestigious wine-growing region. Serious vineyard development began only in the late 1960’s following the publication of a report by John Gladstones in 1965 stating that the area had a similar climate to Pomerol or St Emilion, with low frost risk, plenty of sunshine and equable temperatures within the growing season promoting even ripening. Margaret River’s climate is warm and maritime, with some cooling influence provided by southeast trade winds. The soils derive from granitic and a gneissic rock over which laterite has formed. The region can be divided in three sub-regions: the cooler south between Yallingup and Karridale with predominantly lateritic gravelly loamy sands and sandy loams; the warm and sunnier Willyabrup in the centre with predominantly gravelly loams, but some gritty sandy loams and granitic gravels; and Margaret River in the north with similar soils, but slightly cooler temperatures. This is entirely consistent with style; the wines from Willyabrup being more generous than the highly structured wines of the north and the elegant styles of the south. Margaret River is best known for high quality Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc Semillon blends and top notch Cabernet Sauvignon and Bordeaux blends. Over the years, the region has established an astonishing reputation illustrating a consistency in quality and a strongly focused winemaking culture.
XANADU
John Lagan and family established Xanadu in the 1977 naming the property after Samuel Coleridge’s epic Kubla Khan or a Vision in a Dream. During the mid-1980s and 1990s Xanadu created a strong following for its muscular but energetic wines. After a brief interlude as a public company, it is now once more in private hands as part of the Rathbone Wine group. The Rathbone family has instigated a complete revitalisation of vineyard and wine making practise including lowering yields and optimising regional nuance. The 85 ha property is farmed along low input/organic lines and winemaking follows a minimal-intervention philosophy. Under winemaker Glenn Goodall, Xanadu is enjoying a major renaissance.
