This June, Margaret River's Xanadu will release its Flagship Reserve and Stevens Road wines.
Working with historic vines established in the '70s, winemakers Glenn Goodall and Brendan Carr bring an intuitive and regionally expressive approach to classic Margaret River varieties. The Flagship Releases champion their most premium examples of the region.
The Stevens Road 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon and 2020 Chardonnay are produced from an individual vineyard – blocks that the team considers their 'grand cru'. The premium Reserve range, the 2020 Reserve Chardonnay and 2019 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, are made from the best grapes the winery is able to produce in a particular vintage (single vineyard or otherwise).
The Xanadu 2019 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon has just taken home the Cabernet Sauvignon Trophy at the National Wine Show of Australia (Canberra) for the eighth consecutive year.
Xanadu is tucked away in the Wallcliffe subregion of Margaret River, only four kilometres from a magical coastline. The winery is home to three key vineyards – Lagan Estate, Boodjidup Estate and Stevens Road.
Established in 1977 by Dr John Lagan, Xanadu produces expressive, regional wines with influence from Margaret River's mediterranean climate. Head winemaker Glenn Goodall takes an intuitive approach to winemaking, refusing to compromising on quality. "These wines represent the best of each vintage, and in most seasons offer a wonderful dichotomy of style which is more of a reflection of site than winemaking influence."
Erin Larkin says wines made by Glenn and the team at Xanadu – no matter their price point – are made with meticulous attention to detail and quality. "At the value end of the spectrum, his wines routinely smoke peer-group competitors, and at the very top end (Stevens Road and Reserve ranges), they occupy a venerated place in the top echelon of wines produced each year in Margaret River."
Discover the latest Xanadu releases below.
2020 Xanadu Wines Reserve Margaret River Chardonnay
The problem with Xanadu Reserve Chardonnay is that it is delicious on release. But that has nothing on what it morphs into, with age. This is a wine that is all too often overlooked (not in the show system, granted) by collectors, because too few people have been privy to the wines in their middle age. A problem emerges: the wines are drunk too early and don't get the opportunity to show their full potential. This is crystalline, pure – almost austere – toasty and spiced, with layers of undulating flavour through the fine, spooling finish. A monumental wine of endless potential. 97 points, Halliday Wine Companion, Erin Larkin.RRP $110 | Drink to 2042 | xanaduwines.com
2020 Xanadu Wines Stevens Road Margaret River Chardonnay
This wine is pristine, and routinely defined by acid on release. It is soft, pithy and lush (that acid), and it is met by white peach and nectarine, red apple and lime flesh. Brine, cheesecloth and little pockets of pop-rock vibrancy. This is a beautiful wine, but it is even better with some age. The temptation to drink them young however, is overwhelming. 97 points, Halliday Wine Companion, Erin Larkin.RRP $80 | Drink to 2037 | xanaduwines.com
2019 Xanadu Wines Reserve Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon
92/4/4% cabernet sauvignon/malbec/petit verdot. Fruit from Wilyabrup, Treeton and the Steven's Road vineyard. Matured for 14 months in French oak (45% new). Sometimes, you gotta start at the end of a wine, rather than the front. Usually it is because the wine is so long, that the first flavours are long forgotten. Such is life, here. The tannins, which are laced like a fine silky web through the finish, capture the pure fruit on the mid palate and coax it through the mouth. Caught also, like fine droplets of dew in a spider's web, are pockets of spice which add pop and thrill to the overall. Another scintillating and pure cabernet release from the team at Xanadu. 97 points, Halliday Wine Companion, Erin Larkin.RRP $110 | Drink to 2042 | xanaduwines.com
2019 Xanadu Wines Stevens Road Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon
100% cabernet sauvignon, fruit from Block 3 in the Steven's Road vineyard. Matured for 14 months in French oak (40% new). Scintillating, pure, creamy, salty and layered, this is every bit as impressive as I expected it to be. Expectations can occasionally be cumbersome, in that they have the ability to get in the way of accurate and present assessment. But in this case, the reality exceeds the expectation, leaving only good things in its wake. The cooler year is viewed here through perfectly ripe fruit, and has imparted a freshness to the acidity that only serves to highlight the pristine character of the wine. Hyperbole aside: it's very, very excellent. The tannins are like silk. 97 points, Halliday Wine Companion, Erin Larkin.RRP $80 | Drink to 2042 | xanaduwines.com
The new release wines are available from June 1. Visit xanaduwines.com for more information.
