Margaret River Tours are very proud of our partnerships with some of the Margaret River Wine Region’s most popular wineries. The latest James Halliday’s Australian Wine Companion 2019 has awarded many of our partners with glowing reviews for their top tier wines. The Halliday Wine Companion is widely regarded as the industry benchmark and his comments are highly anticipated each year.
Halliday’s Companion describes not only his opinion of taste and winemaking technique, but also the alcohol content and the cellaring potential of each wine which makes his reviews a highly useful guide for wine collectors and connoisseurs. Here are excerpts from his 2019 reviews of some of our partners’ outstanding wines.
VOYAGER ESTATE 2014 CABERNET SAUVIGNON – 98 POINTS
Included in Halliday’s Top 100 wines for 2018.
Deep, bright purple-crimson hue; the expressive bouquet points the way for the elegant palate, where juicy fruit, oak and tannins are seemlessly fused. An appropriate wine for Voyager’s 40th anniversary, certain to celebrate its 50th. The difficulty will be keeping your hands off it. 14% alc. Drink to 2034.
WATERSHED 2016 AWAKENING CHARDONNAY – 98 POINTS
The soaring intensity and precision of the wine obliterates any comment about the oak. It is one of those uncommon chardonnays, that demands you give it time – the more the merrier. Grapefruit is the masthead, but it gathers around it a suite of flavours that keep its energy and drive on track.13.5% alc. Drink to 2034.
STELLA BELLA 2015 SUCKFIZZLE SAUVIGNON BLANC SEMILLON
Awarded the Best Semillon Sauvignon Blanc Blend – 97 POINTS
Always a regional tour de force, this has high quality Graves written all over it; not merely fermented in French oak (60% new), but aged as well (40% new) for 14 months, with incremental batonnage to amplify the compelling textural detail. A citrus choir with the focus on lemon: lemongrass, lemon curd and ripe Meyer, all soaring along a balancing beam of vanilla cream oak. This is world class, transcending the general malaise when it comes to these oft-abused varieties. 13% alc. Drink to 2024.
VASSE FELIX 2014 TOM CULLITY – 97 POINTS
The ship slowly turns and sets sail for the future. It’s not the deepest or darkest of wines at first, but give it time to breathe and the reach and power is something to behold. It tastes of blackcurrant and camphor, bay leaves and black olives, smoky oak applied as an infusion rather then anything terribly overt. Flavour – most certainly.
Tannic power – oh yes. Explosive length – most definitely. 14.5% alc. Drink to 2039.
VASSE FELIX 2016 HEYTESBURY CHARDONNAY – 97 POINTS
A wine all about finesse and length – extreme length. The inexorable drive and logic of the bouquet and (in particular) the palate leaves little room for argument, but plenty for discussion. Pink grapefruit, pear, nectarine and a satin bow of oak are all as one. 13% alc. Drink to 2030.
BROOKLAND VALLEY ESTATE 2017 CHARDONNAY – 96 POINTS
Hand-picked, whole bunch pressed, fermented and matured (9 months) in French oak. Toasty oak comes through clearly on the bouquet, seemingly answering the question, whether, and if so, how much was used by Brookland Valley Estate – the answer, enough. There’s also a power of high quality fruit from the mature estate vineyard, cutting off questions with its bell-clear mix of white peach and grapefruit. 13.5% alc. Drink to 2027.
While some of these specific wines are already sold out, other vintages of the same wines are often available for tasting on our Margaret River wine tours. The quality of winemaking displayed by these highly awarded wineries is also reflected in their lower tier wines which are available to taste and take home to enjoy at very affordable prices. When you join one of our regular tours you get the opportunity to sample the latest offerings from these and other fabulous Margaret River cellar doors. We look forward to having you onboard soon.
