2022 Vasse Felix Cabernet Sauvignon Filius Margaret River 750 ml

Vasse Felix is an icon of Margaret River: They’ve earned New World Winery of the Year honors from Wine Enthusiast, and Wine Advocate has called them “one of Australia’s treasures.” Last year, their Filius Cabernet landed at #2 on Wine Spectator’s Top Wine Values of the year. And this 2022, if we’re going off of critic scores, is markedly, unequivocally, undeniably better.

VF winemaker Virginia Willcock just took home the Halliday Wine Companion’s Winemaker of the Year award, and this Cabernet shows why. It packs the sophistication and complexity that made Vasse Felix wines coveted among Australia’s savviest collectors,.

Surrounded on three sides by the Indian and Southern Oceans, Margaret River’s generous sunshine and Mediterranean climate are as enticing to winemakers as they are surfers and bronze-tanned tourists. Ample sunlight, cool sea breezes, and dry ripening seasons awaken fine tannin structure and complexity, a terroir James Halliday has called “Bordeaux-like.”

Yet this Filius Cabernet is far from mimicry. Almost 80% of the region’s plant species don’t live anywhere else in the world, a completely distinct ecosystem that gives Margaret River wines their own unique flair, encapsulating the essence of its rich terroir. “Margaret River is on the cutting edge of elegant Cabernet,” Vasse Felix winemaker Virginia Willcock told us. “It’s got elegant lines, but it’s still got the beautiful tannin structure and power that you’d want to have with a meal.”

Vasse Felix is among the best representations of Margaret River style because they helped mold it, planting the very first vines in the region. And over the years, they’ve only fine-tuned their approach, turning up the quality dial year after year. As Virginia told us: “I’ve become a lot more hands-off, allowing the wines to express themselves a lot better. I have to say, I think the style of wine I’m making now is about 50 times better than the style of wine I was making 15 years ago.”