Want to get more out of your trip to magical Margaret River? We’ve teamed up with the guys at Drive Your Story, with a recommended self-drive trail guide! A curated collection of Margaret River Surf and Source hit lists. The experiences are as varied and unique as the inhabitants. But that’s the common thread in Margaret River: a connection to place and a contribution to the culture, no matter your background. It’s an area of character and characters. Here, legacy wine producers rub shoulders with old salty surfers, tree changers, nature-lovers, enterprising families and artists.
Starting at the river itself and finishing at Jesters Flat, grasp a slice of the WA life. Follow our list to the letter or use it as your North Star to get back on track if you’ve wandered off the beaten path (and we hope you do).Linger a little longer to bask in the glow of sunset then bring home a story that’s all your own.
We’re so excited to share our new range – Circa 77 – with you. This range celebrates everything we love about Margaret River, Western Australia – our home since 1977.
A place of spectacular beauty where the call of the surf rolls over the vineyard and influences extraordinary conditions for great winegrowing. This range embodies our love for this remarkable place where we make world class wines and surf world class waves. It gets under your skin and in the vines and is ultimately expressed in the wines we make for your enjoyment.
This range replaces Exmoor, continuing to offer excellent value, every day drinking wines. Circa 77 demonstrates not just the lifestyle and natural beauty of Margaret River, but just how special the combination of our pristine maritime climate and ancient soils are in producing wines of vibrancy and personality. Explore the range:
We’re proud of this new range not just for the wines themselves, but for how it has helped reduce our impact on our pristine environment by moving to lighter weight bottles. This change has means removing 10 tonnes of glass and 1.6 tonnes of C02 emissions each year!
We’re blown away by the 8 Trophies awarded to Xanadu at the 2021 Perth Royal Wine Awards announced today. With 5 of these Trophies awarded to our 2019 Xanadu Cabernet Sauvignon including Best Wine of Show, this is a huge honour and testament to the quality of this wine.
We’re excited to share our 2022 Halliday Wine Companion results. We were again awarded a 5 Red Star winery rating along with incredible scores right across our range of wines. Congratulations to our dedicated winemaking and viticulture team Glenn Goodall, Brendan Carr, Steven Kyme, Rob Underdown and Darren Rathbone!
2018 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon – 98 Points
92/4/4% cabernet sauvignon/petit verdot/cabernet franc. Fruit from Treeton, Wallcliffe and Wilyabrup. The best barrels of fruit from each area were matured for 14 months in French oak (45% new). It should be said from the outset – this is quite likely the best wine, white or red, ever made at Xanadu. The intersection between a perfect vintage, pedigree fruit and sensitive winemaking look just like this: cassis, blackberry pastille, marri blossom, raspberry, pomegranate, black pepper and star anise. Hints of fennel flower and salty licorice are the lingering impressions. What a wine.
As ever, sophisticated, lithe, glassy and svelte. Through the lens of the cool 2019 vintage, this wine has a scintillating energy, the acid jolts a burst of life onto the tongue, stinging it into life. The length of flavour goes on and on. Xanadu chardonnays have a proven track record of graceful ageing in the cellar, often not truly coming into their own until 3+ years after release. Pedigree, in a word.
From a tiny block within the Stevens Road vineyard. Matured 14 months in French oak (40% new). Dutch licorice on the nose and shining on the palate. The tannins really steal the attention from the pristine fruit. Such finely knit tannins, cleverly inlaid into the fruit without being hidden, are one of the standouts of this beautiful wine. They shape and structure the pure cassis fruit, ushering it through to a long and lingering finish.
We may intellectualise wine, but at its heart, it is an emotional pursuit. This 2019 Stevens Road provided a moment of unadulterated joy when I drank it on Christmas Day. The salty acid and taut citrus fruit cut through the conversation and the heat of the day, injecting pleasure and calm. This is svelte, with salty limes. Briney and delicious. Buy both the 2019 Reserve and Stevens Road chardonnays: cellar the Reserve, drink this.
With 5/4% malbec/petit verdot. Fruit from Wilyabrup, Wallcliffe, Treeton and Yallingup. 14 months in oak (40% new). Scintillatingly pure and taut, this is elegant, supple cabernet at its finest. Garden mint and purple fruit dominates; the length of flavour an enduring ripple on a still lake. Brilliant stuff, even more so given the price and its ability to age gracefully.
Gingin clone, whole-bunch pressed, wild ferment in barrel (25% new). Bâtonnage over 9 months barrel maturation prior to blending. Nashi pear, white peach and briny acid form the core of this wine, but they are joined by crushed salted cashews and red apple skins. Demands decanting to soften the edges, if drinking in its youth – this label really kicks into gear about 2 years after release (if you have any left).
With 6/5% petit verdot/malbec. Fruit from Wallcliffe, Wilyabrup and Treeton. 14 months in oak (25% new). Super-pretty raspberry, raspberry lolly and red licorice aromas give an indication of what to expect … the palate does not disappoint. Supple, verging on slinky; fine tannins provide seamless structure and shape. Modern, lithe and darn delicious.
Fruit from the Steven’s Road vineyard. A third of the blend contained 30% whole bunches, which lands in at about 10% in total. Maturation occurred two-thirds in larger-format seasoned oak, the balance in barrique. This is pristine; crunchy, juicy and pure, with layers of cassis, blueberry, mulberry, red licorice and raspberry. There’s a supple bounce on the palate that might lend it to a slight chill in warmer weather. A delight for the price.
Estate fruit, whole-bunch pressed to barrique (20% new), wild ferment, regular bâtonnage over 4 month maturation, mlf blocked. A very classy wine, especially at this price: clean and layered, with crystalline purity and good length of flavour. Some barrel influence enhances the beauty of the fruit, lending elegance to the passionfruit, snow pea and Geraldton wax. The texture is a highlight – slippery and fine.
With 0.5% viognier. All cool-area fruit (Wallcliffe and Karridale), matured 14 months in French oak (25% new). Pure, slippery, juicy, bouncy, delicious shiraz. What more could you possibly want for $20? This has structure, length, line and succulent fruit. The oak is countersunk into the salty, juicy fruit. Cracking little wine.
Fruit is from 3 areas within Margaret River, whole-bunch pressed to barrel for wild ferment (24% new). Matured for 9 months, mlf blocked. 2020 was a warm(ish) low-yielding year responsible for wines of structure, power and concentration. This wine is the perfect representation. It is streamlined and razor sharp, the length of flavour giving ample opportunity to see the restrained stone fruit, pawpaw, green pineapple, Granny Smith, rosewater and brine.
Fruit from a mature Wilyabrup vineyard. Matured 14 months in French oak (30% new). The first single-varietal bottling of malbec under the DJL label, and hopefully not the last. Expressing the house style of fruit purity, this is exploding with red snakes, blackberry, summer mulberries and red licorice. The palate has all that, shaped by firm tannins and good length of flavour. Another cracking high-value wine at a decent price from Xanadu. Delicious.’
Not yet released.
2020 DJL Shiraz Graciano Rosé – 93 Points
50/50% shiraz/graciano. Generous, pure and fine with texture and flavour to boot. Oodles of pomegranate, raspberry, star anise and white pepper. Best Rosé in Show, Royal Adelaide Show ’20.
70% barrel fermented (wild), the balance in tank. Matured for 9 months, bâtonnage throughout, mlf blocked. Very fine, pure and mineral; this gives petit Chablis a solid run for its money. Crushed oyster shell, green pineapple, nashi pear, lemon zest and the requisite salty acidity. Really quite exciting when viewed through Chablis-coloured glasses.
Snappy, concentrated, flavoursome little number. Margaret River really nails this varietal mix and if there’s any confusion as to what characters make it so successful, then you can look to this for answers. Snow pea, gooseberry, white pepper, lemon pith, brine and a pretty jasmine floral that floats through the finish. Uncomplicated, refreshing summer drinking. All there, tick.
86/6/3/3/2% cabernet sauvignon/shiraz/merlot/cabernet franc/petit verdot. Matured for 14 months in French oak (20% new). Pretty, vibrant, layered with blackcurrant and spice. A beautiful wine, especially at the price!
100% shiraz, stainless-steel ferment. Watermelon, pink peppercorn, pink grapefruit and some pomegranate. Simple, lovely rosé with a punch of flavour on the mid palate. Pure through the finish. Not overly long, but joyful.
Our Reserve + Stevens Road new releases featured in The West Australian, by Ray Jordan.
“Xanadu winemaker Glenn Goodall dropped me a note with the latest bunch of samples to say he was “really excited” to share them with me. About half an hour later I had a pretty clear idea why. They are so bloody good. The wines are the Reserve and Stevens Road cabernet from the spectacular 2018 Margaret River vintage and the Reserve and Stevens Road chardonnays from the 2019 vintage, one which is rapidly starting to rival the ’18 for chardonnays.
It’s hard to know where to start with the Reserve cabernet. Perhaps I simply say this is the finest yet released from this estate and yet another example of what Goodall himself says is “the best Margaret River vintage I’ve seen in my 21 years here at Xanadu”. The difference with the Stevens Road, which is slightly finer and more precise, is quite distinct and provides a compelling point of difference. I suspect there will be some who actually prefer it.
I haven’t featured the Stevens Road chardonnay this week but take it from me, it’s mighty good. But the Reserve is truly exceptional. It comes from what Goodall considers the best blocks and best rows on the original Lagan vineyard.
And it clearly demonstrates, which took me a little while to really appreciate, that the cooler 2019 is now clearly established as the second of two truly great vintages for Margaret River chardonnay. It may well prove to be superior. I’m just going to enjoy the ride as I continue to taste these wonderful new releases.
2018 Reserve Cabernet
99 Points
This is probably the finest cabernet yet released from Xanadu. It’s a blend of mostly cabernet with small amounts of malbec and petit verdot. It’s a powerhouse loaded with concentrated dark fruit and supported with typically chalky tannins and a decent hit of oak, of which 45% was new French. It’s dense and engaging, yet there is that life and energy that stamps these wines with another dimension. Has many years ahead of it.
Beautifully elegant cabernet from this vineyard on Stevens Road. It was a stellar vintage and this has come through in a sensational wine. The striking feature is the energy and life in the palate. It begins to show on the nose but then releases with a huge leap forward on the palate. Chalky tannins accentuate the elegance and charm with a bright leafy black fruit character. Great mouthfeel and structure. It’s a wine that perfectly reflects this vineyard in a near perfect year.
The basis of this memorable chardonnay is the best batches of fruit from the original Lagan Estate vineyard. Power and poise captured expertly with clever winemaking. The cooler vintage has certainly influenced the structure and intensity, with a more subtle understated expression. Yet as the wine begins it’s journey along the palate it starts to release its payload. Impeccably balanced with cashew, butterscotch brittle and roasted cashew flavours faintly evident. Complex with a minerally lingering finish.”
We’re very excited to officially release our new Reserve and Stevens Road wines with you. The Chardonnays are from the cooler 2019 vintage which produced wonderful intensity and acid retention, and the Cabernets are from the outstanding 2018 vintage, undoubtedly a benchmark Margaret River vintage.
Our Reserve range continues to be the best of what we are able to produce in a given vintage – single vineyard or otherwise, and we could not be happier with the quality of this Cabernet particular. Our Stevens Road wines are produced from the blocks that we consider our very own ‘Grand Cru’ and recognises the outstanding quality that this individual vineyard can produce.
Both limited in production, be sure to secure these very special wines while they are available.
100% of the fruit is from our oldest Chardonnay vineyard, the Lagan Estate. This low yielding vineyard produces bunches with characteristic ‘hen and chicken’ architecture typical of the Gingin clone. We encourage natural fermentation to further emphasise the personality of this wonderful site.
Entirely handpicked and whole bunch pressed followed by 100% barrel fermentation, only the best barrels are selected for the final blend to create our Reserve Chardonnay.
A powerful and sophisticated Chardonnay displaying classic Margaret River intensity of white stone fruits, citrus and pear.
From the outstanding vintage that was 2018 in Margaret River, we’re proud to once again be releasing our Langton’s Classified wine.
About 70% of the Cabernet is from the dry-grown Victory Point vineyard in the subregion of Treeton. The remaining 30% from mature vineyards in the Wilyabrup and Wallcliffe subregions, included estate grown fruit.
Ripe mulberries, blackcurrant and dark plums – a quintessential Margaret River Cabernet that will continue to pay dividends in years to come.
The fruit for this Chardonnay is from Block 2 of our Stevens Road Vineyard which is situated on the Boodjidup Brook about 3km from the winery. Fruit off this mature, low yielding vineyard has consistently produced some of our best Chardonnay each vintage. The pedigree of the vineyard deserves recognition in its own right, so much so that we release the best barrels as this single vineyard wine!
An elegant Chardonnay offering both purity and complexity – white flowers, citrus and stone fruit with underlying oatmeal notes and a dash of sea spray.
Extremely limited in production, all the fruit for this single vineyard Cabernet is from the bottom 21 rows of our Stevens Road Vineyard. We consider this mature, low yielding vineyard as our own Grand Cru site, as the tiny block produces some of our best Cabernet each vintage.
The 2018 release recognises the outstanding quality that this individual vineyard can produce and highlights the unique personality of this very special site.
Vibrant and robust in its youth offering brooding dark fruits, blood plums and blackcurrant with hints of bay leaf.
Our 2018 Xanadu Cabernet is the 2020 James Halliday Australian Cabernet Challenge winner! Scoring 97 points, it’s taken the top prize from 364 entries from 29 regions across Australia.
Senior Winemaker Glenn Goodall says “I’m absolutely wrapped! We’ve always taken enormous pride in our Cabernets, so to be awarded as the Trophy in this year’s Halliday Australian Cabernet Challenge is definitely the highlight of 2020, and a huge achievement for everyone involved at Xanadu, especially our growers.”
Cabernet Sauvignon loves Margaret River, and there would have been some strong wines in the mix given 2018 was such an amazing vintage here. No doubt, in years to come everyone’s 2018 Cabernets will be the yardstick by which such exceptional vintages are remembered, so to have our 2018 Cab recognised like this, amongst so many great Australian producers, is extremely rewarding for the whole Xanadu team.”
Coming from a long line of outstanding releases, Xanadu Cabernet is our most awarded wine having collected a staggering 28 Trophies and 55 Gold medals over more than a decade of vintages since 2009.
The results were presented by Langton’s YouTube and Facebook. The streamed virtual presentation followed 3 days of virtual judging believed to be a world first held simultaneously in two separate judging hubs in Coonawarra and Margaret River due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.
We’re stoked to have been awarded the Gibbs Corp Trophy for Most Successful Western Australian Exhibitor having been awarded the Best Red or White Wine of Provenance Trophy (Sponsored by Brady & Co Creative) for our 2008, 2012 and current release 2018 Xanadu Cabernet Sauvignon, along with our 6 Gold, 5 Silver and 3 Bronze medals.
Congratulations to our amazing winemaking and viticulture team on such fantastic results!
Gold
2019 Reserve Chardonnay – not yet released, SHOP 2018
We’re so excited to share that we were again awarded a 5 Red Star winery rating, along with incredible scores across our wines. Our Reserve wines received top scores of 97 points.
Congratulations to our passionate winemaking and viticulture team: Glenn Goodall, Brendan Carr, Steve Kyme, Suzie Muntz and Darren Rathbone!
97 points | 2018 Reserve Chardonnay
Fruit from the oldest chardonnay vines on the property, fermented wild in barrel, no mlf at all. It puts a fresh face on power, it puts succulence into length, it puts botanical nuances into pristine varietal flavour. The x-factor here is quite pronounced.
With 95% cabernet sauvignon, 5% malbec. It’s a best barrels selection with the final blend seeing 45% new French oak. This takes quality by the scruff of the neck. It’s seriously good cabernet: firm, flavoursome, tidy, balanced and long. It has excellent concentration, a thick mesh of tannin and enough nuance for you to know that more is to come. You could build a cellar around a wine like this.
Takes on the power, hitting on where others fall by the wayside. The flavours are conventional enough but their density is in a league of its own. Apple, herbs, citrus and tropical fruits are all there in abundance. Partial barrel ferment is the key to its complexity and texture.
The combination here is one of coiled power and medium-weighted fruit. That’s almost a contradiction in terms but it feels natural here. Bay leaf, blackcurrant, juicy boysenberry and clove flavours come drifted with wood smoke and dark chocolate. It warms to its task beautifully as it breathes in the glass, but remains a cool, elegant cabernet of genuine quality.
Excellent intensity and length. Green pineapple, stone fruit, steel and cedar wood flavours crash authoritatively through the mouth. No doubting its variety, no doubting its region. There’s a piercing aspect to the finish but it brings flavour right along with it.
From 11 rows of malbec on the Stevens Road Vineyard. Most of it goes to the Reserve Cabernet, but 100 dozen was kept as a varietal release. It sees 40% new French oak for 14 months. It tastes of cocoa and leather, jubey black cherries and bay leaves, and its filigreed tannins and wonderful length are about as clear quality sighters as anyone could hope to find.
An elegant chardonnay showing freshness first and foremost. Although there’s flint and there’s funk, there’s also flavour and there’s a clip of quality oak. It moves confidently across all areas of the dance floor, the effect entertaining and satisfying. Linger of citrus-and-grapefruit-driven flavour on the finish is a particular highlight.
Includes 92% cabernet sauvignon, 5% petit verdot 3% malbec; 4 weeks on skins, 40% new French oak for 14 months. Olive paste, gum leaf and blackcurrant flavours flow slowly into cedar wood and vanilla cream, the latter more texture than overt flavour. It sits at the upper end of medium weight, the flavours cruising through the mouth with confident ease.
89% cabernet sauvignon, 6% malbec, 5% petit verdot. Grapes are sourced from the Wallcliffe (75%) and Wilyabrup. It offers attractive varietal flavours and has just enough sternness to give you confidence in its future. It tastes of blackcurrant, violet, eucalypt and milk chocolate, everything served in velvety form.
Very good release. It tastes authentically of Margaret River and of cabernet. It’s curranty, gravelly, smooth-skinned and fresh. There’s a creaminess to its texture and a gum leaf lift to its aromatics. It’s a wine that really improves as it rests in the glass, not that each glass lasts too long. There’s value in spades to be had here.
‘Gently pressed to minimise colour extraction’ it says in the winemaking notes. That was successful, because this release is so pale in the glass it’s more ‘off white’ than rose. Looking beyond that, there are attractive characters of watermelon and redcurrant on the bouquet, the palate showing juicy, sweet berried fruit upfront but finishing nicely dry.
It’s lean in chardonnay terms but it’s long, elegant and well put together. In fact comparing it with the Exmoor Chardonnay of the same vintage it’s worth the extra money. Whispers of sweet oak and a palate rushed with nectarine-like flavour. It’s a tamed version of Margaret River Chardonnay but it’s a satisfying one.
An assemblage of many parcels of contract-grown fruit that includes 4% pinot noir. Bright colour; blackcurrant and bay leaf are good, but then tannins appear and make protein highly desirable.
Our highly anticipated Reserve and Stevens Road Cabernet and Chardonnay wines are now available.
This release celebrates our 10th Chardonnay and 9th Cabernet release under our single vineyard Stevens Road label. Extremely limited in production, it demonstrates our focus on selecting only the very best rows, from the very best blocks from our special little vineyard in the Wallcliffe sub-region, just 3km down the road from the Xanadu Estate.
Our Reserve wines continue to represent the best of a given vintage and are only released when there is a wine worthy of doing so. This year, we’re proudly releasing both a Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon after two years of deciding to not release a Cabernet. We’re extremely excited to share these wines with you!
2018 Reserve Chardonnay
The 10th consecutive release of this wine, following the Chardonnay that won Australia’s Best at the 2019 National Wine Show of Australia.
Citrus, nashi pears and tangy stone fruits with a lovely saline/oyster-shell character in the background. Precise and pure, the fruit is complemented with subtle creamy elements and a pithy grapefruit edge adding structure. The intensity of fruit and the bracing acidity combine to provide drive to the wine, focusing it perfectly to a crisp, lingering finish.
Our 10th Chardonnay released under this single vineyard label, this wine is extremely limited in production at only 260 dozen.
The palate is medium bodied offering stone fruits and zesty citrus flavours. Textural yoghurty nougat characters derived from lees stirring in barrel are well balance by natural acidity and trademark Stevens Road minerality. Complex and intriguing, the wine finishes crisp with persistent length of fruit.
After two years where we decided to not make a Reserve Cabernet, this wine heralds the return of our Langton’s classified wine.
Powerful yet elegant, the generous palate offers a core of ripe forest fruits, cassis and dark chocolate characters. The wine has a wonderful density, layered with inky fruits and underpinned by silky fine-grained tannins. Complex and quintessentially Margaret River with a long Cabernet finish.
The next release of the wine that won Australia’s Best Cabernet at the 2018 National Wine Show of Australia.
The generous yet elegant palate offers wonderful inky blue fruits like mulberries, black plums and ripe blackcurrants. Beautifully structured, the fruits combine with fine, graphite tannins culminating in a distinct and lingering Cabernet finish.
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