Higher Plane Margaret River Cabernet Malbec 2018

From the home of cabernet sauvignon comes a charming Bordeaux-inspired blend of cabernet sauvignon and malbec. The two definitely belong together, but you so rarely see them sharing company in this country. Don’t know why, but let’s see more of it, especially if they taste like this.

Smooth elegance all the way here starting with the plummy, leafy bouquet with a dash of spice and confection. Mouth-filling bright blackberry fruits, forest floor autumnal earthiness, nutmeg and a noted presence of vanillin oak which adds rather than detracts from the whole. Cabernet signature tannins keep everything focussed and in line. Cabernet sauvignon takes the leading role here no doubt about it, with malbec contributing a fullness, generosity and earthiness.

Sourced from the Forest Grove area of southern Margaret River, hopefully there’s more of this kind of wine to be found there in the future.

Jeni Port

Wine critic at Winepilot

Jeni Port is one of Australia’s top wine communicators. Based in Melbourne, Jeni created the first wine column in the (then) Sun News-Pictorial before moving over to The Age and becoming that paper’s longest-serving wine writer. Over the years she has written for most Australian wine magazines and these days calls WinePilot home. She is also a Tasting Panel member on the Halliday Wine Companion. She was named Wine Communicator of the Year and Legend of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival in 2014 and in 2018 Legend of the Vine. She is a founding board member of Australian Women In Wine and is the co-deputy chair of Australia’s Wine List of the Year Awards and China’s Wine List of the Year Awards.

Wine writer and critic