2023 Nocturne Wines Sheoak SV Cabernet Sauvignon, Margaret River

A classy cabernet with all manner of heady aromas and flavours. Expect a combo of mulberries, blackberries and currants, freshly ground coffee beans and iodine plus lots of menthol. There are more savoury inputs of nori and tapenade with cedary oak just-so. Fuller-bodied yet beautifully modulated with exceptional tannins.

96 points Special Value Jane Faulkner winecompanion.com.au

The Nocturne Sheoak Single Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon from Margaret River is a masterclass in elegance and structure from one of Western Australia's most exciting winemaking duos, Julian and Alana Langworthy. Sourced exclusively from the Sheoak Vineyard in Wilyabrup, this wine channels the quintessential Margaret River style but with a personal, high-fidelity expression of site.

The Sheoak vineyard sits on gravelly loam soils over ironstone, classic terroir for Cabernet in this region. These soils, combined with maritime cooling influences from both the Indian and Southern Oceans, allow the grapes to ripen slowly and evenly. This extended ripening period builds aromatic complexity and deep flavour while preserving vibrant acidity and fine tannin structure.

Julian Langworthy is no stranger to Cabernet Sauvignon. As chief winemaker for Deep Woods Estate and a Jimmy Watson Trophy winner, his touch is unmistakable. At Nocturne, the wines are smaller batch and artisanal, and Sheoak is the crown jewel of their Cabernet program. Each vintage is crafted with minimal intervention. The fruit is hand-picked, fermented with wild yeasts and matured in a mix of new and seasoned French oak barriques for around 14 months.

In the glass, Sheoak Cabernet delivers a deeply coloured, perfumed and layered wine. Expect lifted aromas of blackberry, cassis, graphite and violets. The palate is tightly coiled on release, with dark cherry and blackcurrant fruit wrapped around a core of minerally tannin and restrained oak. As it opens, notes of cocoa, bay leaf and cedar emerge, with a persistent, fine-grained finish.

Cellaring potential is excellent. It will benefit from 8 to 15 years in the cellar where the structure will mellow and complex tertiary characters will evolve. For food, try with dry-aged beef, lamb with rosemary or hard cheeses like aged Comté or Mimolette.