Xanadu Cabernet Sauvignon 2013 | Rich, Powerful & Concentrated
Xanadu Cabernet Sauvignon 2013 is a beauty from the world-class Cabernet epicenter of Margaret River. While displaying a deep purple color with a lighter ruby rim. Also aromas of fresh black currant, blackberry, Cameroon tobacco, spearmint, clove, and baking spice. Refined and very fresh on the palate. Most of all with a subtle softening and roundness to the tannins. But retaining a firm texture and sustained finish.
96JH | Small batch open-fermented, 35% given extended maceration, blended and matured in French oak (40% new barriques) for 14 months. Xanadu Cabernet Sauvignon 2013 paints an unerring landscape of intense, elegant Margaret River cabernet. And with a stream of cassis fruit bordered by gravelly but fine tannins, oak insistently completing the picture. Great value.
Wine Enthusiast 2017 Editors’ Choice, Top 100 #41
The March 2017 headline in Wine Enthusiast grabs the reader: “Why You Should Pay Attention to Australian Cabernet. Which, it argues, offers “compelling competition for Napa and Bordeaux. While reading a little bit further, it becomes apparent that the praise that Wine Enthusiast heaps on Aussie Cabernets are from the idyllic Western Australia outpost of Margaret River.
Xanadu Cabernet Sauvignon 2013 paints a true picture of Margaret River in its sage and bay leaf shadings and concentrated cassis fruit. While it’s all framed by hints of vanilla and toasty oak. But the emphasis remains on dried herbs and fruit through the long, mouthwatering finish. Drink now–2030.
Xanadu & Margaret River
Margaret River boasts striking similarities to the California Cabernet epicenter of Napa Valley. While both regions seduce visitors with their sun-dappled, slow-paced lifestyles. Furthermore, both are youthful but stiff competition to the long-established châteaux of Bordeaux. And both capturing the imagination of one of the New World’s most legendary winemakers. So Robert Mondavi himself was convinced of the Margaret River’s world-class potential that he flirted with buying a property in Margaret River in the early 1970s. Although he resisted in the end, Mondavi did mentor a pair of legendary Margaret River estates. Notably whose ascent proved that his hunch about the region was dead-on.
While Xanadu has been there since Margaret River’s early days. Dr. John Lagan and his wife Eithne planted their first Cabernet Sauvignon and Semillon near the coast in 1977. And now the Xanadu property has over 200 acres of vines planted in Margaret River’s well-drained gravelly soils. Staying family-owned since being acquired by the Rathbone family in 2005, Xanadu remains obsessively quality-focused. As evidenced by the estate’s taking top Cabernet at Australia’s National Wine Show five out of the last six years. Finally, if this wine were made in Napa, it would be three times the price. Don’t delay.