96 points

The West Australian - Ray Jordan

Oh, my. What a stunning wine, made more stunning when you can get it for less than $50. Deep and concentrated power delivered with integrated elegance and poise. This is classically structured cabernet, displaying all the power and purpose you get from this variety in a great year from Margaret River. Chalky tannins, powerhouse middle core with a great lingering finish. Deep, leafy, oyster shell, cabernet minerality. You simply must get some of this. (Best Drinking: Now to 2035)

94 points

James Suckling

This impressive cabernet has aromas of dark berries, as well as plums and blue fruit, alongside terra cotta and also fresh purple flowers. The palate has a seamless and flavor-soaked feel with fine tannins carrying black-fruit flavors. Some chocolate to close. Impressive.

94 points

The Wine Front - Campbell Mattinson

This is a cabernet to crow about.. In the glass, pure and simple, it’s a star. It’s a medium-weight wine and yet it’s unafraid of tannin. You have to love that. It’s not out of whack, it remains in balance, integration is established and then it launches from there. Lots of bay leaf and baking spice here but then blackcurrant, fresh and juicy, which pushes into redcurrant, mint and boysenberry. There’s an undergrowth-like note here too, almost earthen, which teams terrifically with the tannin. The cellar beckons.

94 points

The Real Review - Huon Hooke

Deep, brightly youthful purple/red colour. The bouquet is floral and highly aromatic, with generous herbs and pot-pourri, violets and blueberry, the palate intense and firmly structured, the tannins quite stern at this stage, the finish lingering on a long time. It should cellar very well, and offers outstanding quality for the price.

94 points

Gourmet Traveller Wine - Nick Stock

An immediate impression of depth with aromas of mulberry, plum, blueberry, tobacco, terra cotta, cedar and violet. The palate is structured with fine-grained tannins, almost dusty, amid flavours of blackberry, dark cherry, blackcurrant and dark chocolate.

92 points

Wine Spectator

Aromatic and expressive, with eucalyptus oil, sage and cedar wood accents and a dense core of dark cassis, black tea and star anise and dark chocolate notes that mingle on a supple, elegant frame.

Silver Medal

Decanter World Wine Awards 2021

Complex and punchy, with healthy doses of baking spice over chocolate, violets, wild herbs and fresh berries.

93 Points

The Winepilot - Angus Hughson

The 2018 vintage has produced beautiful wines all over Margaret River – wines that are full of generous fruit and hard to put down. This is no exception but still carries with it the distinct more elegant hallmarks of Vasse Felix. Mid to deep colour, this screams out cabernet sauvignon from start to finish thanks to its bright blackcurrant fruits and a good dusting of dried herbs with coffee grounds oak in support. The power of 2018 is on full display with rich, ripe fruit which is bought into sharp focus by chalky tannins and quite juicy acidity which drives a sinewy finish. This wine will get plenty of hearts racing now and over the next decade or so.

96 Points

The Vintage Journal - Andrew Caillard

Medium deep crimson. Intense blackcurrant, blackberry, leafy aromas with hints of dark chocolate. Well balanced blackcurrant, blackberry, mulberry fruits, fine loose knit slinky textures and underlying savoury, espresso notes. Finishes grippy firm with attractive inky length. A classic cabernet sauvignon style with beautiful definition, richness and vigour. 90% Cabernet Sauvignon 8% Petit Verdot & 2 % Malbec. Matured in a combination of 44% (new) and seasoned (56% 1-4yo) French oak barriques for 18 months

95 Points

Wine Business Magazine - Tyson Stelzer

A mighty expression of a grand season from a house on a spectacular trajectory. Impeccably ripe fruit and enduring tannin structure are the game here. Blackcurrants and cassis are accented with tobacco and cigar box, suspended in a rigid framework of fruit and oak tannins, intricately woven for the long haul.

The Wine Detective - Sarah Ahmed

It reveals silky raspberry and mulberry as well as fresh blackcurrant and pronounced florals – dried roses and violets – with bitter chocolate nuances (a Houghton clone signature), incipient kelp, and delicious embedded spice (anise, clove). With 99% whole berry ferment and a veritable one percenter of Petit Verdot (1% of the 8% of Petit Verdot in the blend) that underwent carbonic maceration for more lift, less tannin, plenty of thought has gone into this wine. It shines in the detail. Long, with a cedar-kissed finish with fine grained graphite tannins.

96 Points

Ray Jordan - The West Australian Wine Guide 2022

Oh, my. What a stunning wine, made more stunning when you can get it for less than $50. Deep and concentrated power delivered with integrated elegance and poise. This is classically structured cabernet displaying all the power and purpose you get from this variety in a great year from Margaret River. Chalky tannins, powerhouse middle core with a great lingering finish. Deep, leafy, oyster shell cabernet minerality. You simply must get some of this.