Fermoy Estate Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2020

Best in Show

Do Cabernet Sauvignon and Margaret River go together? Well, it’s the fourth time that the combination has been featured in our Best In Show selection – so yes, they do. Three of those laureates, intriguingly, have come from the high-quality, low-quantity 2020 vintage – and if this wine is anything to go by, it’s a vintage which is taking its time to reach even early maturity. This wine remains an opaque black-red in colour, with admirably pure and restrained aromas of shapely blackcurrant lent freshening complexity by bush and scrub notes – a single sniff is transporting. The wine is concentrated and refined on the palate. Not merely fruity, though there is plenty of that ‘noble’ blackcurrant to enjoy, but the fruit is lent shade and nuance by the biotope allusions evident on the nose. The tannins and acids are measured and proportionate; the ripeness well-judged; and the wine moves through the mouth with easy, drinkable grace

It might be a reserve wine, but there’s no need to wait. It would be hard to, anyway, as this is gorgeous. Superfine and long with powdery tannins; there’s latent power almost within yet it hovers around medium bodied. It’s structured and detailed, laden with flavour and the oak makes its presence known but not overtly so – it adds cedar and antique wood aromas plus another layer of tannins. There are also mulberries and blueberries and a kitchen cupboard full of spices. Take it all in. Slowly. Drink 2024-2040