Howard Park Leston Cabernet Sauvignon 2017

Margaret River Cabernet can be a pleasure palace, intrinsically hedonistic and plush. That’s in the warmer years.

But 2017 was not a warm year but rather was guided by a long, slow ripening period over a mild summer which, for the most part, delivered Cabernets of elegance and longevity. That’s what’s to be celebrated in the Leston 2017 Cabernet.

Winemaker Janice McDonald talks up the influence of the Houghton clone in this wine. Whatever the contributing factors, there’s no denying the wine’s presence. It’s all about the vibrancy of plush black fruits for me, so enticing.

It grabs you, sucks you in, and it’s a sweet ride counterbalanced by dark chocolate, typical Margaret River bay leaf and bramble with light, spicy background oak. Tannins are ripe and smooth.

A wine to savour, as they say, over the years to come. And there will be many.