2021 Pierro VR Cabernet Sauvignon, Margaret River

The cooler 2021 vintage has contributed to a wine poised with silky refinement, reflecting both the season and the vineyard. It’s about 86% cabernet, with merlot, petit verdot and cabernet franc making up the balance. Over the years, I’ve tasted several of these, and this is one of the most stylish and elegant reserve wines from Pierro. The nose is highly perfumed, and the palate is beautifully restrained with lively red fruits that drive through to a long, thoroughly delightful finish. An excellent wine. Drink 2026 to 2036.

96 points Ray Jordan, WA Wine Review 2026

There’s just a smidge of development to the otherwise deep garnet hue, with wafts of dried flowers and sage, new leather and warm spices. The acidity is a livewire, keeping the mid-weighted palate energised as the tannins leave a textural imprint. You would call this a more fine-boned style. Give it a decent decant so it can unfurl and reveal its best side. Drink 2026 to 2034.

95 points Jane Faulkner for Halliday Wine Companion, May 2026

The 2021 Vintage Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon leads with dark fruit and exotic spice, a fête of bay leaf, dried sage, tapenade and brine. This is sophisticated Cabernet here, with an elegant and persistent middle palate and finish. Gentle, as all the Pierro Cabernets tend to be, this is the densest and most concentrated of the release this year. It is very good. Drink 2026 to 2036.

94 points Erin Larkin for The Wine Advocate, April 2026

Medium-full garnet colour, showing age development, which is corroborated by the bouquet which shows developed fruit in its pot-pourri, dried herb, dried floral and kid leather range of aromas. It's quite detailed but don't expect bold primary fruit here. A more savoury, medium bodied, elegant style of cabernet which can be over-shadowed by its bolder peers but makes a delicious drink. Drink 2025 to 2035.

94 points Huon Hooke for The Real Review, November 2025

Dr Mike Peterkin planted the first vines at Pierro in Willyabrup in 1980, and the property has been one of Margaret River's most celebrated estates since. The north-facing slopes of the Pierro property, with their gravelly loam soils and proximity to the Willyabrup Brook, are among the most highly regarded Cabernet sites in the region. Vines of over 30 years, low yielding and grown at high density, produce fruit of natural concentration and structure.

The VR (Vintage Release) is a four-barrel flagship blend representing the best Cabernet of the vintage and is only made in exceptional years. Merlot and Petit Verdot also appear but are minor support acts in this wine. All grapes are handpicked and chilled before bunch and berry sorted by hand at the winery. Fermented in open fermenters, plunged by hand three times per day, with a portion left to macerate vintage dependent for 30 to 40 days to enhance structure and flavour. Pierro Cabernets are matured in new French oak for 18 months, with two-thirds of the barrels new each vintage. A further five-year rest in bottle sees the wine released as it is close to approaching its drinking window.

Margaret River experienced a challenging season in 2021 due to unusually heavy summer rains. Canopy management, timing of harvest and careful fruit selection were vital, but those who remained vigilant in the vineyards brought in a good harvest, and the cooler and drier conditions later in the season resulted in perfumed and vibrant Cabernets with fine tannins.

The 2021 VR is reflective of the season and the Pierro style alike. It is a refined and elegant wine with highly perfumed aromas of dried flowers and herbs with grounding notes of leather, warm spices and olive tapenade. The medium-bodied palate continues the theme of elegance, with refined, focused and persistent fruit flavours set against textural fine tannins.

Decant for up to one hour before serving to appreciate the full expression of the wine. Treat it like fine Bordeaux and enjoy with a tea-smoked duck or roasted Lion’s Mane mushrooms and black garlic jus.

Drinks well on release, but with every reason to cellar further.