

93 POINT RATED RAY JORDAN THE WEST AUSTRALIAN & NAMED IN HIS TOP 100 RED WINES OF THE YEAR
Vintage: | 2019 |
Source/Region: | Margaret River, Western Australia |
Grape Variety: | Cabernet Sauvignon |
Cellaring: | Drink now or cellar up to 2029 |
Bottle Top: | Stelvin |
Alcohol Content: | 14.50 |
Standard Drinks: | 8.60 |
Rating: | 93 |
A fresh but velvety palate with medium weight, a creamy core and fine, elegant tannins. Hints of delicate dried cranberry and sunflower seed nuttiness linger on the finish.
‘Son of’ the Vasse Felix Cabernet Sauvignon. It carries the structure, power and tannins of classic Cabernet in an earlier drinking, succulent style from fruit sourced from each of the Vasse Felix vineyards.
The individual batches were destemmed and sent as whole berries to stainless steel rotating fermenters for wild fermentation. Cabernet
parcels were left on skins for 12-20 days to extract a fine backbone of tannins. Open top and use of aeration during fermentation helped to promote a clean fruit perfume, soften the tannins and bring life to the wine. The resulting wines were matured in fine French oak for 11 months prior to blending, with limited racking to help preserve the delicate wild characters captured in this low intervention approach.
A cool, high-humidity start to vintage meant we benefited greatly from precise canopy management to mitigate disease pressure and optimise sun exposure for the fruit. The success of this program enabled us to harvest ripe, clean fruit with slightly lower alcohol and great natural acidity. Mild conditions allowed for extended ripening, creating beautiful aromatics and fine ripe tannins in our reds. Marri Blossom was non-existent throughout the region in 2019, resulting in the largest netting program ever seen at Vasse Felix to protect the fruit from bird damage. Overall, a labour intensive vintage that resulted in beautiful quality fruit.
86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Malbec, 2% Petit Verdot
93 Point Rated - Ray Jordan The West Australian
"The cooler 2019 vintage presented its challenges, but it also produced some very good wines. Generally, they are more restrained and slightly leaner in structure, yet they have good flavour intensity. This great-value cabernet has become a winner for Vasse Felix. Blackcurrant varietal fruit with a bay leaf and perfumed red berry lift on the nose. A trace of dusty oyster shell on the palate. So well balanced and focused to a long finish."
92 Point Rated - Mike Bennie WBM
"An excellent release of the formidable Filius, this one is perfumed, medium bodied, dark fruited, licked at with sage-like herbal notes and judiciously seasoned with cedary-cinnamon spice. Swamps the palate with flavour but a sheath of tannins does a good job tidying and drawing the wine to a long, taut conclusion. Excellent release."
91 Point Rated- Gary Walsh The Wine Front
"Does anyone here remember ‘White Knight’ bars? Popular in the 80s, apparently discontinued in 2016, sadly. Anyway, you can relive the magic, should you remember them, when you taste this wine. Mint nougat, blackberry and boysenberry, a little sweet spice and roasted nuts. Medium-bodied, quite minty and kind of juicy in dark fruit, something of a sappy herbal character too, grainy cocoa tannin, and a mint chocolate finish of solid length. It’s a little overt in regional (and vintage) character, but a good wine."
90 Point Rated - Angus Hughson Wine Pilot
"Margaret River has had a string of good vintages stretching back over a decade. The trend continued in 2019 with a year that was slightly cooler than average which has made for a more elegant vintage, which is not such a bad thing. It’s got everything you want in Margaret River cabernet with good depth of colour followed by leafy blackcurrant fruits plus a decent hint of red currants also in the mix. Chief Winemaker Virginia Willcock’s style is for cabernet with a strong varietal signature and this wine has that in spades. It then moves on to a dry, fresh and mid-weight palate with good depth of fruit on a lingering finish. There is more green herbs coming through than usual thanks to the vintage but classic cabernet fans will not be disappointed."
Jancis Robinson
"Lightish garnet colour. Lightish nose. Well balanced and easy to like: a little sweet and then the bite of light tannins. Some may find this a little too light. I think you'd appreciate it most if you knew this producer's top bottlings too."
Top 100 Reds Ray Jordan The West Australian
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