Whicher Ridge Elevation Cabernet Sauvignon 2016

The producer makes a point of presenting this wine – by grape variety and region – as its flagship. It’s as if the maker is saying, Geographe may not be Margaret River (which lies to its south) but it can make quality cabernet sauvignon, too. Just give it a try.

At this price point, many drinkers will undoubtedly give it a go. What they get is a mouthful of aged flavour, of meaty, savoury complexity. I strongly suggest the drinker splash this wine around for a bit before drinking. It releases more character and freshness.

Cassis, spice, meaty, charcuterie-bacon notes on the nose. Cabernet blackberry, leaf, plums, licorice join a thread of dried herbs on the palate. The palate is starting to dry but while the fruit is alive; it makes for a rare aged red from Geographe that is worth exploring.

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