2017 Credaro Five Tales Cabernet Sauvignon Margaret River 750 ml

Credaro’s Five Tales Cabernet is so popular in Australia that they’ve never bothered exporting it—which is why we claimed as much as we could get of the first-ever allocation to make it to the States. We got a good chunk of the 300 cases imported, but not nearly as much as we wanted. Today, this Cabernet is priced at $19.00 per bottle—though you’ll swear it should cost twice that. 

We first fell in love with Credaro’s sumptuous Five Tales Cabernet Sauvignon while visiting Margaret River, Western Australia’s Napa Valley by the ocean—and until a month ago, we’d never encountered a drop anywhere else. So when we heard that our importer friend Kate had brought an allocation of the 2017 to the States, we reached out to confirm the rumor—and she sent a bottle of the “smoking insane” (her words) value our way. 

We popped it open at our Judging Panel, and true to our memories and Kate’s promise, the Cabernet was absolutely beautiful: Oozing rich blackberry preserves and bramble with a touch of mint, built on a spine of juicy tannins, lifted by lively acid, it’s everything we want in an open-anytime Cabernet. Every last person was unequivocally all-in. 

Never here before. Not guaranteed to make it here again. Don’t miss this chance to claim this underpriced Aussie Cabernet star while you’ve got the chance. 

“Approachable, generous, well-balanced,” is how Australian wine authority James Halliday described the wine his countrymen snatch up every vintage. Cedaro is a mainstay in the idyllic Margaret River, the family having settled there a century ago. Since the 1980s, they’ve been supplying local wineries with grapes, and now produce all of their own wines (from their nearly 300 acres) at their winery in the northern part of the region. 

Warmer than Bordeaux, cooler than Napa Valley, the Margaret River region of Western Australia is a hotbed of Cabernet value—they’ve got a knack for putting out under-$30 Cabernets that other regions have trouble keeping pace with. Raised on four Credaro vineyards sprinkled throughout Margaret River, this Cabernet enjoyed a nice, long growing season and extended hang time. Destemmed, fermented on a Bordeaux yeast strain, then matured for ten months in light-touch new oak (just 10% new), this one shines a beautiful bright light on the region at under $20. 

Very little made it to the US, and most of that is earmarked for Wine Access. The next shipment? Might be never. Stock up accordingly.