2023 LIRICA Cabernet Sauvignon

Planted in 1974 from heritage Houghton Cabernet Sauvignon selections originating from Moss Wood, the LIRICA vineyard occupies just 0.85 hectares within the heart of Wilyabrup. Dry grown, cane pruned and naturally low yielding, the old vines produce small crops of exceptional concentration and balance, with deep root systems drawing from classic Forest Loam soils over clay.

The vineyard's gentle easterly aspect encourages slow, even ripening, allowing tannin maturity and flavour development to align naturally. It is this combination of site, vine age and meticulous viticulture that forms the foundation of LIRICA — a wine that speaks first and foremost of place.

The fruit was hand harvested on 3 April 2023 before being destemmed without crushing, berry sorted and transferred as whole berries to open fermenters. Fermentation proceeded with indigenous yeast from Piedi cuvée at cool temperatures, with gentle hand plunging twice daily through primary fermentation before an extended 33-day maceration.

Following basket pressing, the wine matured for two years in French oak barriques, 42% new, sourced exclusively from the tighter-grained northern forests of France. Medium toast barrels were selected to frame the wine rather than dominate it, allowing the vineyard's natural detail and structure to remain the defining feature. LIRICA was bottled unfined and unfiltered after a further period of élevage, preserving both texture and purity.

A remarkably detailed expression of Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon. Lifted aromas of blackcurrant, redcurrant, violets, graphite, fennel seed and cedar unfold with remarkable clarity, layered with subtle savoury spice and mineral complexity.

The palate is poised and finely structured, combining concentrated dark fruit with exceptional freshness and precision. Fine, persistent tannins carry the wine effortlessly across the palate, while natural acidity provides length, energy and balance. Elegant in its youth yet built for patience, LIRICA will continue to evolve gracefully over the next 20 years and beyond.

Finalist in the Young Gun of Wine Top 50 Vineyards of Australia 2026

"This is the kind of light, elegant, insistent Cabernet that we don’t see enough of. It carries a power of fruit, don’t worry, but it’s modern-Grenache-adjacent in that freshness, perfume, insistence and tannin feel of greater importance than mere depth. We see cedarwood oak on this wine, which will settle, but what we mostly see is remarkably pure Cabernet fruit: blackcurrant, iodine, fennel, redcurrant, olives-in-brine, gravel-rolled graphite and a woodsy spice note, the latter almost but not quite into peppercorn territory. What’s of particular note here is the latticework aspect of the tannin. This tannin, perfectly integrated, is sturdy and effortless at once; it’s half-volley-neatly-dispatched-to-the-boundary tannin.

"This wine tastes as though something special has been added to the Australian wine landscape."

96 Points, Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front

"Quite a wine here. Incredible concentration yet levity, layers to scent and flavour, quite a bit of stewed fruits, chocolate, but then the herbs, the alpine florals, the just ripe forest berries with their crunch, the lift of sea spray, salt bush, a trim of sooty spices. Fine, incredibly lacy tannin, succulence to texture, exceptional length and poise. A coolness too. A masterclass here. And something that feels gulpable, which is the ultimate aim."

95 points, Mike Bennie