Wine Pilot: 2024 Bekkers McLaren Vale Cabernet Sauvignon. 95pts.

Classic notes of blackcurrant and fine cedar lift from the glass with elegance before a cascading of complexity in tilled earth, graphite minerality, bay leaf, short bread, plum and flickers of ground coffee and dark chocolate in the background. There are allusions of kelp adding a saline edge. The elegance and complexity traits carry through the palate with notes mirroring perfume and lovely even intensity. The core of fruit is linear and lifted, wrapped up in fine-grained tannins with a cool wash of persistent acidity through a long, flowing finish. Weighing in at 13.5% alcohol, this is a supremely elegant, age worthy and beautifully composed Cabernet. A class act.

Published August 2026