A limited release from a special vineyard in the cooler Wallcliffe subregion, with only eight barrels produced. It's gentle and restrained on first look, with delicate red plum, blueberry, mint and tobacco leaf lifting gently from the glass. Air brings out some subtle ferrous and foresty notes along with camphor and delicate cedar oak. Overall, it needs coaxing out of the glass and is quite shy at this stage of its life. There's delicacy and elegance to the palate, too, with everything sitting high in the mouth. Tart plum and blueberry sit at the fore with glimmers of cedar and tobaccao lingering beneath. The tannins are fine, chalky and laced with a subtle graphite nuance while red fruited acidity maintains freshness through a gentle minty finish. It's elegant, hightoned and fresh Cabernet with a sense of purity and drinkability. However, despite the style, it comes across as a little shy and lacking intensity overall.

Here we have the very best Cabernet Xanadu can produce in a given year. The fruit was mostly sourced from two mature, dry grown vineyards; Timber Creek, in the Wilyabrup subregion; and Victory Point in the Treeton subregion of Margaret River and was supplemented with a small amount of Malbec from their Stevens Road vineyard in Wallcliffe. It's quite elegant aromatically, with delicate notes of plum, blackcurrant, blackberry, paprika and paperbark to start. A good swirl of the glass unlocks tilled earth, dark chocolate, cacao powder and a gentle graphite edge beneath. Lovely aromatics, though in need of air to really show. There's elegance, lift and restraint to the palate, with blackcurrant pastilles, blackberry, mint, hints of graphite and a glimmer of dark chocolate before ripples of grainy tannins frame it all up to an elegant finish. Elegance is the word, though I do feel a touch more concentration would elevate this.

Some austerity on the opening, this shows sweet black cherry fruit, with cocoa beans, rose petals and pomegranate as it opens, carefully extracted tannnins that support without overpowering, even though this is very low yield of 10hl/ha after hail. Things are a little subdued at this point, so give it a few years to soften, but clearly well steered through a tough vintage at this excellent estate, owned by Sally Evans. Optical sorting, vinification in 500 litre French oak barrels, aged in 30hl oak casks.

Waves of gentle citrus alongside bright fresh acidities, with sage and peach pit adding depth through the mid palate. This has grip and lift, touch of CO2 in this sample as just bottled. There is plenty of potential for great white wines on the limestone soils of Fronsac (bottled as Bordeaux Blanc), and this is an enjoyable example. 50% aged in Burgundy barrels, with lees stirring, with the other half fermented in concrete eggs, again on the lees.