Xanadu Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2019

The word reserve on a wine label has come to mean so much . .  and so little. Who makes the call on what reserve actually means, how it should be interpreted and taste, its price point? Increasingly the wine marketer has made that call rather than the winemaker. Here, the winemaker takes back control. Xanadu winemaker, Glenn Goodall, and his team have a clear idea of what they want from a reserve wine whether it be a chardonnay or a cabernet. There’s no denying he sees age-worthiness as part of its drawcard, and that means some firm tannins come into play here. They are there for a very good reason. There are also multi-layers of flavours and textures.

It’s quite exciting, especially if you have time on your hands and a place to stash this little beauty. Blackcurrant, leafy/herbal/rosemary with wild berries and earthy-leather savoury notes on the bouquet. That hint of savouriness is alluring, tempting, whets the tastebuds as it reappears on the palate in league with dried herbs, anise, chocolate and salty liquorice. Just a lick of vanillin-toasty oak sets off the whole cabernet experience. A ripper cabernet but give it the time it deserves.

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