Moss Wood was destined from it's very genesis to be one of the Margaret River's great Cabernet Sauvignon. Excellence is the estate's raison d'etre, all decisions made in the vineyard or at the winery are based on the effect they will ultimately have on the wine. Experimentation in the vineyard has been matched in the vinification and Moss Wood has undergone subtle refinements from year to year. The wines are given longer skin contact time during fermentation, whilst the backbone of Cabernet is enhanced by small amounts of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot.

The Moss Wood team perceive a commonality between vintages 2003 and 1983. Warm years and early vintage. Perhaps the only notable difference is the inclusion of Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc in 2003. These add lively fragrances to the nose and additional length and structure to the palate.

Exceptional Langtons Classification. Moss Wood includes portions of Cabernet Franc for its cherry and Petit Verdot which contributes bright berry perfumes and a firmer structure. Moss Wood's Cabernet Franc shows less leafiness than Cabernet and can be picked earlier, when the fruit shows ripe berry flavour, similar to summer pudding. Further ripening tends to produce dark plum notes. While still slightly green, Moss Wood's Petit Verdot has an herbal note, more coriander than leaf, an ethereal, aromatic lift, redolent of violets and sweet berries.

A base of Cabernet Sauvignon with smaller components of Petit Verdot, Malbec or Merlot. As the vineyards that supply these grapes have matured, the yields of the different varieties have varied and so the percentages in the finished wines have also changed. The makeup of the vineyard is important in resolving two key issues, seasonal variations, dictated by mother nature and style, controlled by winemakers. Cabernet produces the best wine, but the other Bordeaux varietals can play an important role in maximising quality of the finished wine.

Moss Wood were destined from their very genesis to be one of the new world's great marques in Cabernet Sauvignon. Excellence is the estate's raison d'etre, all work amongst the vines and throughout the vinification demands a no expense spared production, aimed at crafting the most statuesque vintages of Cabernet Sauvignon. Malbec contributes rich red currant notes, Petit Verdot adds confection, Merlot is all cherries and summer pudding. Luxury oak in support with toasty, coffee bean flavours and vanilla tannin for gentle, flattering grip.

One of the more profound Margaret River constructs of the complex Bordeaux blend, a cépage of Merlot and Malbec, Cabernet and Petit Verdot. Combines the blueberry and blackcurrant fruit characters of Yallingup with the perfumed violets and toothsome red currants of Cowaramup, generous fruit depth with soft oak influence, in fine support with a toasty, spiced background. Full body and sweet round flavours of cherry and other dark fruits, as well as melted chocolate, make Amy instantly appealing and oh so easy to enjoy.

The Shiraz of Australia's west possesses an individuality and charm, a uniqueness of character and a style all its own. At once, brighter and more piquant than Shiraz from any other region in the nation, it makes a richly complex, polished and engaging wine. Moondah Brook are a winery with a history, having planted their first vineyards half a century ago. They still retain access to these precious old sites, for a solid backbone of fine Shiraz, to be vinified alongside choice parcels, treated to an adroit vinification and aged in the finest oak.

So remarkably articulate is the Merlot of Australia's west, that it drinks beautifully while young as a pure varietal wine. Moondah Brook are all about sourcing the fruit of mature vines and treating it to a minimalist style of vinification, to allow the Merlot to speak for itself. They retain vineyards up to thirty years of age and employ a combination of old and new world vinification techniques to preserve expression of fruit while enhancing complexity. A juicy, plum filled wine with velvety tannins, to match with venison and green peppercorn jus.

Since the genesis of Western Australia as a world class wine region, Moondah Brook have led the way with a conspicuous quality of Cabernet Sauvignon. Moondah Brook know how to bring out the flavour of good Cabernet, the most rigorous standards of viticulture and a natural, minimalist vinification are essential. The perfect food wine, an intensely regional expression of Cabernet at its very best, the vibrant dark currant and bramble flavours make Moondah Brook the wine of choice alongside to succulent roast rib, venison or duck.

Millbrook is a boutique winery situated in the historic town of Jarrahdale on the Perth Hills. The origins of the estate's Chestnut Farm winery date back to the nineteenth century when the original owner, Joseph Batt, planted an orchard and the first grapevines in 1860. Today's Millbrook has been specially designed for high quality, small batch wine production. Barking Owl over delivers in terms of balance and generous fruit, a long, savoury finish with an added dimension of oak and complexity at the close of this wonderful Shiraz.

Mandoon are a Swan Valley operation of great provenance, their homestead vineyard being an ancient block established on the first rural grant in Western Australia, circa 1929 at a property named Sandalford. Always on the lookout for exceptional parcels of fruit, the highly decorated Mandoon team have focused on a northern block of Research Station Vineyard in Margaret River. A scrupulous excise of the most rigorous pick, is treated to the most exacting standards of vinification and a term of age in the finest coopered French oak.

According to local folklore, the tranquillity of Mad Fish Bay is broken when two tides meet, driving schools of small fish to go quite completely bonkers, as they jump about to avoid being gobbled up by the incoming tide of larger, hungry fish. Exquisitly balanced, highly polished, affable and quaffable, a delicious red wine that's mouthfilling, approachable and complete, fashioned from fruit grown to a corner of Australia that does Shiraz so very well.

Named for the Chapel district of Lenton in Nottingham, Brae is Scottish for a small hill, which is what the Lenton Brae vineyard is situated on. Fortuitously placed within the very epicenter for superior Margaret River Cabernet, the site was planted after advisement from the proprietors of nearby Moss Wood, with which it shares a similar terroir and microclime. The inaugural vintage of Cabernet won Lenton Brae a place in the pantheon of great Margaret River estates when it claimed two trophies, including best of show, at the WA winemakers exhibition.

Margaret River makes famously intense, deeply stylish Shiraz, somewhat more sanguine and evocative than its distant relations from winegrowing regions further afield. The balmy maritime breezes and cooler nights produce a Shiraz wine that conjures up impressions of the prevailing mistral winds of Valley Rhone. Slightly more forward drinking than the estate flagships, Sibling is endowed with layers of radiant olive/plum fruit characters and piquant spice characters, supported by excellent length of the most graceful tannins.

Prelude can lay claim to the most praiseworthy vineyards in Margaret River, for a world class Cabernet Merlot wine which measures up to, or surpasses it's sibling rivals in the Medoc. Margaret River can boast of a rare confluence of topography and terroir which form a mesoclime very like Bordeaux, along with a rare consistency of weather patterns each year, to deliver the quality of wine which Bordeaux can offer only in the finest vintages. An elegantly poised Cabernet Merlot accord with exciting graphite mineral complexity at the finish.

Distinguished Langtons Classification. One of Leeuwin Estate's crowning achievements, a statuesque, opulent yet graceful rendering of Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon. The cépage may vary somewhat from vintage to vintage, as inclusions of Petit Verdot or Malbec may serve to flesh out the generously proportioned Bordeaux styling. The highly accomplished team mobilize the fundamentals of vineyard and vinification to assemble a fully endowed Cabernet wine that's so much greater than the sum of parts.

A real crowd pleaser and a great choice for everyday drinking, Cabernet, Merlot and Shiraz, seamlessly melded into a fruit filled wine, rich with plum and bramble flavours, seasoned by just the right touch of spice and supported by a length of soft easy tannins. A treat of a wine to be enjoyed as aperitif and un unmitigated pleasure when served alongside good food. Kiss Chasey is made for the young at heart, fashioned from the pick of West Australian fruit to achieve a seriously made red wine of generous flavour and solid structure, with fun in mind.

Situated in the warmer, northern districts of Margaret River, Willyabrup yields the richest Cabernet Sauvignon wines, some of which are Australian flagships that rival the hegemony of Bordeaux. Originally established to process grapes and provide the best service to local growers, Howling Wolves now collate the most exceptional parcels of Margaret River fruit to be vinified under their own label. An alluringly scented Cabernet wine with long blackberry fruit characters, fragrant regional mint and lightly spiced oak before a satisfying, gentle tannin finish.

The majority of vineyard blocks contributing fruit for Howling Wolves are bordered by towering eucalypt trees that influence the grapes to develop distinctive qualities which are a trademark of Margaret River. This is particularly recognizable in the red varietals which take on unique mint and gum leaf characters. A spell of ageing under fine French oak further infuses the palate with vanilla bean and light spice.

Scotsdale was acquired by Howard Park as a pastoral property, specifically chosen and planted to make a single vineyard wine. Shiraz is harvested according to flavour with little regard for analytical data. Fruit is vinified in open top fermenters and gently hand plunged, integral to tannin development and flavour extraction, gently basket pressed to French oak barriques for completion of ferment, followed by extended maturation. Scotsdale 2000 was crowned by trophy at the Divine State of Origin, vintage 2004 claimed gold at the prestigious Great Australian Shiraz Challenge.

An assemblage of the best parcels from the Lange vineyard in Frankland River, established in the late 1990s. Howard Park's Scotsdale property is located at the foothills of the ancient Porongurup range. At 200 to 380 metres above sea level, it is among the highest vineyard sites in all Western Australia. The soils are lateritic gravelly/sandy loams over granite, yields are quite low, the vines are fastidiously maintained and gingerly nurtured with extraordinary attention to detail. Dividends arrive in the form of the most exceptional vintages to be found anywhere in the Australian west.

It's not every year that Howard Park release a pure Merlot wine, the most exceptional pickings are only ever set aside in the finest vintages for a special edition, when the harvest shines with opulence of fruit character, long, powerful flavours and seamless, satin tannins. Fermented to dryness for optimal expression of Margaret River savouryness, treated to an extended term of eighteen months French oak, the palate is a symphony bursting with berry complexities, dark chocolates and cedary, vanilla spice, all rounded out by the elegance of soft, silky Merlot tannins.

Leston Vineyard was Howard Park's first Margaret River property, established 1996 to a bucolic sheep farm which bords Wilyabrup Creek. This is the heart of Margaret River viticulture, a place of salubrious sandy soils and temperate, maritime climes. Hand picked Shiraz from Blocks 4 and 17 are treated to completion of ferments and eighteen months maturation in a high proportion of new French oak puncheons, hogsheads and barriques. An opulent style, seasoned by ginger, anise and tradewind spice, dressed in a lycra of chewy, liquorice tannins.

Howard Park is always the result of the most stringent selection criteria all the way from vineyard to bottle, only the finest fruit and most perfect ferments are included. Extremely high quality parcels of fruit were identified on the vine, two harvests of Great Southern and Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon, assembled alongside a small block of exceptional Pemberton Merlot.

Howard Park's Great Southern vineyards again yielded a harvest of the most richly textured Cabernet Sauvignon, providing the structural backbone. A choice parcel from Margaret River has made a splendid contribution without dominating. Long, long, long! An elegant savoury wine with excellent structure, smells of cassis and cedar oak, luscious and appetising in the mouth, resolves on a finish of dusty herb tannins, lip smacking jube flavours and dulcetly perfumed oak.

Outstanding Langtons Classification. Abercrombie is the flagship Cabernet Sauvignon of Howard Park, noted for its outstanding structure, elegance and complexity. Abercrombie combines the austere dusty earth and blackcurrant aromas from Mount Barker, with the classic rich fruit and chocolate palette of Margaret River. Together they produce an elegantly balanced Cabernet wine with ripe, mature tannins backed up by quality French oak. Produced from the top 1% of fruit and only ever made in years when grapes of extraordinarily high quality are harvested.

The Wisdom range draws on the deep knowledge and wise words of one of the nation's founding winemakers, the late great Jack Mann, who asserted that you can exist without wine but you cannot live! Wisdom is vinified from some of the finest parcels of Cabernet Sauvignon to be found in Margaret River. A sensational construct of west coast Cabernet, by one of the new world's most monumental winemakers. Enjoy alongside barbecued beef, venison steaks or a red wine and tarragon braise of succulent osso bucco.

Three British Army officers, in their capacity as agents of the East India Company, established one of Western Australia's first agricultural enterprises in 1836. Named after Captain Richmond Houghton, it was not until Thomas Yule's stewardship that vines were planted and the first vintage of Houghton wine flowed in 1859. Thomas Yule now sources fruit from the eminent Justin Vineyard in Frankland River, a dark ruby Shiraz of lifted liquorice and intense brambleberry, seasoned by piquant pepper notes and supported by a length of exceptionally fine tannins.

Houghton have been making wine for as long as many of the old world's great estates. The peerless quality of their fruit, exacting attention to viticulture, uncompromising excellence in vinification and exquisite balance are qualities which set the wines of Houghton apart. Shiraz was one of Houghton's earliest plantings, a succession of notable viticulturalists and winemakers continued the tradition of developing vines and improving the quality of fruit. The Houghton of today can lay claim to the most splendid Shiraz vineyards in Western Australia.

Excellent Langtons Classification. The icon wine of Houghton, from the elite Justin Vineyard at Frankland River, powerful and complex, crafted in dutiful honour of the late Jack Mann, father of Houghton Wines and sage of the Australian wine industry. Jack Mann contributed more to West Australian wine than any one else. He created styles, often way ahead of their time, yet insisted nature was the only true winemaker. From 1922 Mann made fifty one consecutive vintages at Houghton, ever challenging the standards of his day and leading by example.

Oustanding Langtons Classification. Jack Mann was one of Australia's most innovative and influential winemakers. He immersed himself in the single pursuit of producing the most stately wines while at Houghton throughout a half century of memorable vintages. Cuvee Jack Mann is Houghton's finest wine and Western Australia's most iconic Cabernet. Small amounts of peerless quality grapes, an original Houghton clone developed by Jack Mann himself, are hand picked from the very heart of a distinguished vineyard and individually considered for inclusion.

Born at Guildford, very near the Houghton Swan Valley wineworks, Dr John Gladstones was an internationally acclaimed scientist who identified the Margaret River in 1965 as being world class for planting vines and growing grapes. Dr Gladstones also played a role in the development of the Frankland River region, Pemberton and Manjimup. A prolific gold medal winner which honours his contribution to West Australian viticulture, this glorious wine offers a profound structure and generous palate, epitomising the peerlesss quality of Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon at its finest.

It was Charles William Ferguson who established Houghton as a national brand and lead the way for Jack Mann to advance West Australian viticulture into a leading global winegrowing region. The most exquisite parcels of Frankland River Cabernet Sauvignon are vinified in traditional open top fermenters and filled to a high proportion of new Bordeaux coopered French oak barriques for sixteen months. The inclusion of a large component Malbec makes CW Ferguson a sensationally well rounded Cabernet style, wrapped in a muslin of seamless, velvet tannins.

Frankland River yields remarkable vintages of Shiraz, Houghton were at the very genesis of the region for viticulture, they retain the finest vineyards. A collation of the best parcels from choice sites have been assembled by the Crofters team, treated to vinification in traditional open top vessels, gently pressed to a selection of French oak for completion of ferments and a year of age. Its profound structure and piquantly spiced black currant fruit richness, makes a perfect match with game recipes, well seasoned lamb or freshly ground curry recipes.

Crofters were Scottish tenant farmers who shared the proceeds of harvest with their landlord. Still functional at the Houghton wineworks, is a restored historical homestead of Crofter design. Today, the Houghton team remains at the forefront of viticultural expansion and innovation throughout the premiere winegrowing precincts of Western Australia. It's a well kept secret that Frankland River yields a quality of Cabernet Sauvignon that's world class and second to none. Crofter sings in complete harmony with it's resonant fruit and long delving finish.

The historic Houghton wineworks have been famous for producing regional benchmark wines ever since the inaugural release of 1859. Today, Houghton continues the tradition by consistently delivering award winning efforts of outstanding quality and affable regional charm. The very Australian mix of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Shiraz, collated from some of the finest vineyards in West Australia, is assembled into a generously proportioned, stylishly well rounded and approachable red wine.

Malbec loves the prevailing maritime climes of the west coast, yielding an amazing quality of wine with vibrant fruit character and the most affable tannins. Grapes are picked by hand and open fermented with a component of whole bunch inclusions, hand plunged for up to a fortnight in one and two tonne open fermenters, gently pressed for completion of ferments into French oak barriques for twelve to fifteen months maturation. A wine of suppleness and finesse, its brooding perfumes presage a palate that fills the mouth with serious weight of opaque fruit.