2017 Howard Park Abercrombie Cabernet Sauvignon, Margaret River

Few wines have done as much for Great Southern as the Howard Park Cabernet. It is THE WINE that put this great region on the map. Originally it was purely Great Southern but now the Abercrombie Cabernet is a blend of Margaret River and Great Southern fruit. It is the right mix as Great Southern Cabernet on its own often needs a bit more stuffing to age well, which Margaret River cabernet has in spades.

The wine has classic cabernet colour – deep but not too deep. Despite its ageing potential it is also immediately approachable – perfumed layers of red and blackcurrant fruit with a cedar/leafy edge and some well integrated new French oak. The palate has a distinct nod to Bordeaux with bright acidity and sinewy tannins – the fruit generous but not overstated, plus a long and balanced finish. Elegance and balance is the key and this wine has both – it just needs a little time to come together.

94 points Angus Hughson winepilot.com

Hand-picked and sorted, destemmed, fermented in header-board vats or small open stainless steel vats, part pressed at dryness (fruit vibrancy), part given extended maceration (structure). High quality Margaret River cabernet made for a long life with decades of change to texture and structure.

97 points Special Value James Halliday winecompanion.com.au

Deep red colour with a moderate intensity purple rim, the bouquet mulchy, herbal, undergrowth and mossy - rather than berry-like. Later: more complex, and showing more berry fruits. It took a while to come out of its shell. The palate is likewise, a matter of undergrowth and herbiage, with dark fruit flavours emerging increasingly as it aired. Firm tannins, very slight bitterness. Eventually, blackberries and blackcurrants through to the finish. It's very firm, tight and full-bodied. This is a baby, which needs time - and food. Great flavour and huge potential: it begs for patience. 05 JUN 2020

97 points Huon Hooke therealreview.com Drink 2022–2042 AUD 150.00 BOTTLE (STORE)

2017 Howard Park Abercrombie Cabernet Sauvignon is one of Australia’s great Cabernet wines and a benchmark expression of Margaret River, bringing together the region’s most powerful vineyard sites into a single, age worthy statement. Abercrombie is only made in exceptional years and is drawn from low yielding blocks across the Wilyabrup and Wallcliffe subregions, where gravelly loam soils over clay and laterite provide excellent drainage and natural restriction. These sites benefit from warm days moderated by cooling Indian Ocean breezes, allowing Cabernet Sauvignon to achieve full flavour ripeness while retaining freshness, structure and fine aromatics. Howard Park was founded in 1986 by Jeff and Amy Burch, with Jeff Burch widely regarded as one of Margaret River’s founding fathers, and the Abercrombie label represents the pinnacle of his vision for serious, long lived Western Australian Cabernet.

The 2017 vintage was outstanding in Margaret River, delivering fruit of concentration, balance and natural acidity. In the glass the wine shows a deep, inky crimson colour, opening with layered aromas of blackcurrant, dark plum, graphite, cedar, tobacco and subtle bay leaf, all classic markers of great Margaret River Cabernet. The palate is powerful yet impeccably controlled, delivering dense cassis and dark berry fruit wrapped in fine, authoritative tannins and supported by a long, savoury finish with notes of spice, ironstone and earth. Despite its depth and intensity, the wine remains poised and refined, a hallmark of the Abercrombie style. It is magnificent with roast beef, lamb, game and truffle driven dishes, and it is built for the long haul, evolving effortlessly for twenty to thirty years as it develops layers of leather, cigar box, dried herbs and forest floor complexity.