Cassandra Charlick: My top Western Australian wines of 2023

Decanter's Western Australia correspondent Cassandra Charlick shares the 10 bottles that resonated most with her from a year of trips and tastings, highlighting gems from Margaret River, Pemberton, Great Southern and Perth Hills – as well as California's Napa Valley.

 

It’s an interesting task to reflect back on the year that was to tease out 10 top wines. What is it that makes a top wine anyway?

 

For me, it doesn’t necessarily equate to perfection. Yes, it must have the markers of a well-made wine: harmony, balance, complexity and length. But, above all, it must be truthful and exciting – and it must tell the story of a place and the people who made it.

 

I narrowed my annual selection down to Western Australia, the largest state in the country and the one in which I live and of whose wines I have the most expertise.

 

There is little chance that my selection of bottles from Burgundy, Bordeaux or Barolo would compare with the breadth of those tasted by Decanter’s experts in those regions.

 

The tiny allocations of some of the world’s greatest wines are harder and harder to get a hold of in Australia, let alone afford. However, life Down Under provides me with ample opportunity to explore – and be surprised by – some of the greatest wines made on my doorstep. And, in my humble belief, a number of them deserve a spot among the ‘world’s greatest’ lists.

 

However, this is not a list of the ‘greatest’ wines. Nor is it a list of ‘top-scoring’ or ‘perfectly made’ wines. It’s my list of top Western Australian wines.

 

Some in my selection look towards the future: alternative varieties, winemaking styles and regions. A few are a snapshot in time; a moment of beauty captured in just one glass. Several show the evolution of an icon. Some are pure hedonism and unbridled joy, while others are constrained and nuanced.

Wine is an emotional and sensory memory, not a score or a paint-by-numbers exercise. All you need to know is that these wines excited me – and I hope they excite you.

 

Alongside tasting at my desk, I’ve been privileged to sit through international benchmark tastings, verticals and new releases. I’ve judged wine shows and visited producers. Each of these 10 wines made its mark and provided insight into what Western Australian wine is.

 

Four of my selection are from Margaret River – one of Australia’s wine beacons.

Cullen’s two Legacy series Chardonnays are small-batch, experimental wines continuing the legacy of Kevin John, father of current winemaker Vanya Cullen.

 

It’s a fascinating exercise to taste the two biodynamic wines side by side (Flower Day and Fruit Day), and these are unequivocally some of the nation’s greatest Chardonnays and true expressions of site.

 

At Cape Mentelle’s annual International Cabernet Tasting, I was one of the invited judges that blind-tasted 20 Cabernet Sauvignon-dominant wines, this year from the 2020 vintage.

One wine that gave me goosebumps revealed itself to be the Leeuwin Art Series. I’d earmarked 2019 as the strongest iteration of this wine yet, however 2020 is even more thrilling. It’s edging ever closer to the lofty heights of Leeuwin’s Art Series Chardonnay.

 

Chenin Blanc is a variety that has a long Western Australian history, which I chart in an upcoming article for Decanter Premium in the new year – along with a slew of great recommendations.

The CBDB (Chenin Blanc Dynamic Blend) from Nick Peterkin’s LAS Vino label is a wine of detail and complexity, proving that this variety can make serious wine. Xanadu’s Chenin Blanc, meanwhile, is like diving into the Indian Ocean: refreshing, invigorating, and uniquely Margaret River.

 

Larry Cherubino is taking the terroir of Pemberton seriously, laser-beaming on Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. It’s a little-known region, but has the potential to grow structured and fine Chardonnay – which is also ideal for sparkling. Yuri Bern has made his mark on the national stage with Sittella’s 2010 Grand Prestige Late Disgorged Blanc de Blancs, produced from Pemberton fruit.

 

Riesling is a key variety in the Great Southern – a region I’ve been researching for another upcoming Decanter Premium article. Castle Rock is a fine exponent, and its Riesling shone at the Perth Royal Wine Show in the provenance class.

 

Swinney, meanwhile, is a relatively young wine brand in the Great Southern, but courage and drive has seen its bush-vine Mourvèdre become one of the state’s greatest wines.

 

The Perth Hills doesn’t get much national or international press for its wines, but Tonon’s Sangiovese – one of many exciting Mediterranean grapes – took home the top gong at the recent Australian Alternative Wine Varieties Wine Show, and it stopped me in my tracks.

 

My last inclusion is an outlier. Early in the year, I was a fellow at the Wine Writers’ Symposium at Meadowood Napa Valley, but a cancelled connecting flight meant I almost missed the entire thing.

Without time for a shower and having been awake for the best part of 48 hours, I slipped into the welcome dinner just in time for the dessert course. Feeling bedraggled, the world stopped still when one of the Symposium speakers, Julia Coney, plonked a glass of 2008 Lang & Reed‘sTwo-Fourteen Cabernet Franc in front of me.

 

It was just as delicious when I finished it in the bathtub.

 

 

Margaret River is Western Australia’s golden child, but the lesser-known region of Pemberton has the capacity to produce nuanced, detailed and fine Chardonnay. The fact that Larry Cherubino has chosen this wine as his flagship Chardonnay is a sign of things to come. The winemaking is essentially the same at his premium Margaret River Chardonnay, yet the cooler, inland terroir of Pemberton speaks loudly in the bottle. This has a fine nose full of spice and an almost piercing line of focus. Fruit is on the crisp citrus spectrum, laden with plenty of minerality. The palate has surprising depth and breadth after the elegance and light fluidity of the nose, and there is serious length on show. A tiny amount of malo and plenty of solids at play. A unique shape defined by precise winemaking and great fruit.