Passel Estate Lot 71 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2017

There’s a lot to like – even applaud – here. It’s a treat to see a seven-year-old Margaret River Cabernet still available for purchase. Doubly so when a top vintage and a wine’s ageing potential is so persuasively on show. The ’17 vintage was cooler, and it shows in a very fine expression of Cabernet Sauvignon, one with finesse and excellent natural balance. The vintage allows the fruit to sing, the winemaker encourages it with a sensitive use of oak. Violet, acacia, bush mint, black berries, plum and gentle woodsmoke aromas. The palate delivers ripe, well composed fruit with black fruits, plum and dark cherry in the lead, enhanced by dark cocoa, spice and fine tannins that run long and deep. A dry, leafy, herbal edge brings a clean finish.