Cabernet Sauvignon, Circa 77, Xanadu 2023
Winepilot 93
Mix any six bottles and you pay the Any 6+ price at checkout — no code needed.
£10 tracked UK delivery, however many bottles.
We pack and send twice a week, Wednesdays and Fridays, by Royal Mail Tracked 48.
Members pay £16.00 — £4.00 less on this bottle. Membership is £120 a year and carries the EDKA Promise. Membership terms
Why this wine
Margaret River is the benchmark for Australian Cabernet, and Circa 77 is Xanadu's way into it: estate Houghton-clone fruit on ironstone gravel, 14 months in French barriques with only a fifth new. It gives the region's cassis and savoury edge without the price of the top cuvees. An easy recommendation for anyone meeting Margaret River Cabernet for the first time.
At a glance
- Grape
- Cabernet Sauvignon 89%, Cabernet Franc 5%, Merlot 4%, Petit Verdot 2%
- Region
- Western Australia, Australia
- Alcohol
- 14.00%
- Body
- Medium
- Acidity
- Medium
- Tannins
- Medium
- Sweetness
- Dry
- Drink
- Short (3-5 yrs)
- Pairs with
- Red Meat, Cheese, Pasta
How it tastes
Ripe black fruits with a spicy, toasty note from the oak, opening onto juicy cassis and a savoury edge. Medium-bodied and polished, with supple tannins and enough freshness to keep the fruit moving. Cabernet Sauvignon 89%, Cabernet Franc 5%, Merlot 4%, Petit Verdot 2%.
The producer
Xanadu was established in Margaret River by Dr John Lagan, an Irishman who arrived in 1968 and planted his first vines with his wife Eithne in 1977, naming the property after the paradise in Coleridge's Kubla Khan; 65 hectares of vines now grow on the original estate. The Cabernet Sauvignon comes predominantly from the estate-grown Houghton clone on ancient granite soils full of ironstone gravel, free-draining and low in water and nutrient holding capacity, which keeps the balance between canopy and fruit; the Indian and Southern Oceans meet nearby and the sea breezes that follow temper the ripening. The vineyard is a member of Sustainable Winegrowing Australia and is worked with cover crops, biodiversity planting, careful water management and sheep to graze the weeds. Fruit was crushed and destemmed, then fermented in a mix of rotary and static fermenters at 26°C for five to seven days, with part of the blend left on skins afterwards for extra plushness and texture before a gentle press; malolactic conversion ran in both tank and barrel, and the wine spent 14 months in French oak barriques, a fifth of them new.
Food and drinking
Serve at 16-18°C. It suits a rare steak, roast lamb, a beef ragù with pappardelle or a wedge of aged cheddar. Drink now or cellar for five to ten years. Sealed with a screwcap. Suitable for vegetarians and vegans.