Xanadu Cabernet Sauvignon 2023

Bottle of Xanadu Cabernet Sauvignon 2023.

Xanadu Cabernet Sauvignon 2023
AU$45, 14% alcohol, screwcap, Margaret River.
95 points – Campbell Mattinson

Xanadu Cabernet Sauvignon is to Margaret River wine what Wynns Coonawarra Estate Black Label Cabernet Sauvignon is to Coonawarra. It’s the affordable Cabernet Sauvignon that cellars like a charm and, indeed, it’s the affordable Margaret River cabernet that has the ability to knock off all comers. Xanadu Cabernet Sauvignon did, after all, once win Australia’s most prestigious wine award, the Jimmy Watson Trophy. Every Australian cellar should include Wynns Black Label Cabernet Sauvignon and every Australian wine cellar should also include Xanadu Cabernet Sauvignon. Xanadu Cabernet Sauvignon is that good, and that important.

This wine won the Prime Minister’s Trophy for Champion Wine of Show at the 2026 National Wine Show of Australia.

This 2023 release of Xanadu Cabernet Sauvignon is faultless. I’ve tasted/consumed it a few times and every time I’ve been bowled over by its balance, its flavour, and by its charm. It’s built on flavours of blackcurrant, salted black olives, mint, cedar, raspberry, bay leaves and cream, though pure fruit is the mainstay and everything else is just there to lend a hand. It’s medium in weight, it’s elegant, it feels good in your mouth, and it exudes beauty. You could ask for nothing more.

95 points – Campbell Mattinson.

Stock up, is my recommendation.

Xanadu is a Mattinson 10-Star Winery.

Campbell Mattinson

Campbell Mattinson has been an independent journalist, wine critic and photographer for forty years. He founded The Winefront, is a former chief editor of the Halliday Wine Companion (and former editor of Halliday magazine), and is the only Australian to have won the Australian Wine Communicator of the Year Award more than once. He is 100% independent, and tastes between 5,000 and 10,000 wines each year, blind and in comparative brackets as often as is practicable.

More about Campbell Mattinson

Mattinson is also the founder of the Mattinson Photography business.

https://www.campbellmattinson.com
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