Margaret River Wines Cabernet Blend

When made right (which happens more often than not in these parts) the blending of Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and other bridesmaid varieties is at the pinnacle of red wine making in the region.

The effect is usually something like this: Dense redpurple colour; full dark berry, chocolate and cedar aromas; a soft, concentrated, ripe black currant palate; and long, lingering smooth tannins on the finish. Such is the wonderful experience of imbibing a top cabernet blend from Margaret River. The style finds its zenith in tie likes of the Cullen Wines Cabernet Merlot.

"A fabulous cabernet from a model WA boutique winery, where the quality is as high as the yields are low," spouts the Penguin Good Wine Guide, which voted the 1996 Cullen the best red wine in Australia.

Mark Shields and Huon Hooke gushed on further. "Impressively dark purple-red colour with massive fruit concentration throughout. It has marvellous fruit depth and optimal ripeness. It is a sensational wine that will be much better when it peaks in about a decade."

Although the Cullen is pretty hard to beat, the Margaret River region is replete with many superb blended cabernets. The sometimes overly robust characters of the cabernet grape are beautifully tamed by the combination with other varieties.

During the past decade our winemakers have been enraptured by cabernet sauvignon, the aspiration being to emulate the great red wines of Bordeaux. But -the tree-secret of premier red Bordeaux is the skilled marriage of the cabernet grape with smaller quantities of lovely partners such as merlot, cabernet franc, malbec and petit verdot, in varying proportions.

Happily the secret has been out for some time on the Cape, especially among the regions young gun winemakers. Vasse Felix winemaker Clive Otto has combined the majority of the above-mentioned into the wonderful Heytsbury blend, which seems to win an endless string of awards. Great things also come from Brookland Valley, Devil's Lair, Voyager Estate, Chateau Xanadu, and the list goes on.

It is worth mentioning that delightful finds are to be revealed in the smaller cult wineries. This scribe was recently at dinner in Willyabrup and sampled a bottle of the Pierro 1996 Cabernet Merlot. If you can get your hands on a bottle, keep them there. It's one more extraordinary red wine from Margaret River.