Sarah Ahmed, Justin Knock MW and Julia Sewell tasted 83 wines with two Outstanding and 33 Highly Recommended.
Entry criteria: producers and UK agents were invited to submit their latest-vintage Cabernet Sauvignon reds (minimum 85%), labelled as either Margaret River, Limestone Coast or one of the GIs within Limestone Coast
Australian Cabernet Sauvignon panel tasting scores
83 wines tasted
Exceptional 0
Outstanding 2
Highly recommended 33
Recommended 34
Commended 11
Fair 3
Poor 0
Faulty 0
First Coonawarra, then Margaret River put Australia on the map for world-class Cabernet Sauvignon. Despite opening this tasting up to South Australia’s wider Limestone Coast region (which includes the GIs of Mount Benson, Mount Gambier, Padthaway, Robe and Wrattonbully as well as Coonawarra), disappointingly only three producers outside Coonawarra sent a wine.
Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for the top-scoring Australian Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Sauvignon is undoubtedly planted in the right place in both Coonawarra and Margaret River and is expressed with nuance and flair across the price spectrum.
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Top-scoring Australian Cabernet Sauvignon wines from the panel tasting
Wines listed below scored 90 points or above
{}
{"wineId":"54165","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"54166","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"54167","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"54168","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"54169","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"54170","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"54171","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"54172","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"54173","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"54174","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"54175","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"54176","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"54177","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"54178","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"54179","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"54180","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"54181","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"54182","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"54183","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"54184","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"54185","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"54186","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"54187","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"54188","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"54189","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"54190","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"54191","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"54192","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"54193","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"54194","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"54195","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"54196","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"54197","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{}
The judges
Sarah Ahmed is an awarded wine writer, educator and judge who specialises in Portugal and Australia. Publishing her own website thewinedetective.co.uk, she regularly judges in Australia and in 2017 was named Honorary Australian Woman in Wine.
Justin Knock MW is director of wine for luxury wine company Oenogroup, providing his extensive experience in wine production, distribution and marketing. He is the Decanter World Wine Awards Regional Chair for Australia.
Julia Sewell is a wine consultant and educator offering services via juliasewellwine.com. A DWWA judge, she began her career in restaurants in Melbourne, Australia before moving to the UK and working at The Fat Duck in Bray, Hide Restaurant Mayfair and Davy’s Wine Merchants.
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