Xanadu Cabernet Sauvignon 2016

Written By Campbell Mattinson
Bottle of Xanadu Cabernet Sauvignon 2016.

Xanadu Cabernet Sauvignon 2016
14% alcohol, screwcap, Margaret River.

This 2016 edition of Xanadu Cabernet Sauvignon won the Jimmy Watson Trophy in 2018. We reviewed it to The Winefront site at the time. This note it from a vertical tasting of Xanadu Cabernet Sauvignon at the winery in late 2024. In other words, this note is from when the wine was 8.5 years old.

Sheesh this is in good shape. It has mellowed and meshed but it’s as fresh as it is complex. It tastes of currants and chocolate and an array of dried herbs, with subtle earth, tobacco and leather notes expand ding throughout. Tannin is just so beautifully judged, and extended. Mint notes add some lift. Once upon a time Jimmy Watson Trophy winners had a reputation for not ageing so well; this wine is the opposite, it’s in great shape, with a good 5-10 peak drinking years ahead of it. 95 points.

—

Xanadu sits among Australia’s Best Wineries as a Mattinson 10-Star Winery.

Campbell Mattinson

This article was written by Campbell Mattinson, former chief editor of the Halliday Wine Companion book, former editor of Halliday magazine, former editor of Australian Sommelier Magazine and founder of both The Winefront site (the home of Australia’s best wine reviews) and of Mattinson Photography.

Mattinson has been an independent journalist, wine critic and photographer since 1987. He’s the only Australian to have won the Australian Wine Communicator of the Year Award more than once. He’s a past winner of a Louis Roederer International Wine Media Award; is the author of the award-winning book The Wine Hunter; and is the author of the best-selling novel We Were Not Men. He’s also a winner of a St Kilda Film Festival Award (as writer-director) and is a former winner of the national Best Australian Sports Writing Award. In 2026 three of his photographs were short-listed for the World Food Photography Awards.

Campbell Mattinson is a storyteller. He is a journalist, a photographer, a filmmaker and a wine critic, and in all of these mediums his prime motive is to tell people's stories.

https://www.campbellmattinson.com
Previous

Vandenberg Shiraz 2021
Next

Purple Hands Shiraz 2024