Leeuwin Estate Prelude Cabernet Sauvignon 2023

94 POINTS

Tom Kline - Winepilot

Bay leaf, cocoa powder, blackcurrant, black olive brine, flickers of graphite, shortbread and plum. Savoury complexity hovers over a core of elegant fruit making for a beguiling perfume. The palate displays power and elegance with an assertive, architectural feel — firm, grainy tannins, blackcurrant, sweet shortbread and black olive again, plum, lashings of brown spice. Excellent length, with bright acidity towing things along with coolness. This will age brilliantly over the next five to ten years — remarkable at $34. If the 2023 Margaret River releases are anything to go by, savvy drinkers should be paying close attention — and moving quickly.

94 POINTS

Gary Walsh - The Wine Front

Well well, I wonder what the 2023 Art Series Cabernet is going to be like if this is any indication. This is one third each of new, one year old and two year old oak. Black fruit, cherry, floral and bay leaf perfume, cocoa and baking spice. It’s medium-bodied, plenty of flavour here, though it has a crispness to acidity and energy that’s spot on, tobacco savouries, and the sweep of stony tannin is something of a highlight. The finish is fresh and long, tinged with black olive and dried herb, some juicy raspberry in the aftertaste. So excellent.

93 POINTS

Ken Gargett - Winepilot

Do not hesitate to take any opportunity afforded to stock the cellar with both reds and whites from the brilliant 2023 vintage in Margaret River. This very fine Cabernet Sauvignon spent nine months maturing in oak, from individual parcels before blending, and a further nine months in French Bordelaise barriques after that, one third new, one third one-year-old and one third two-years-old. A gleaming dark purple with a magenta rim, the wine opens with a touch of toasty, biscuity oak which is still in the process of integration. Aromas of blackberries, tobacco leaves, chocolate, mushrooms, aniseed, and beef stock are all evident here, while notes of sour cherries emerge towards the finish on the palate. This is a wine of good length, fine tannins with reasonable grip, and a lovely lingering finish. Enjoy this over the next decade.

93 POINTS

Jane Faulkner - Halliday Wine Companion

While it’s incredibly youthful, with plenty of vibrant, primary fruit flavours (all mulberries and currants), it’s appealing to drink this now. Lovely aromas of freshly rolled tobacco, pencil shavings (if you still use a pencil) and violets. The mid-weighted palate has a leanness via raspy tannins and brisk acidity, but food sorts that out today. More cellar time will, too.

92 POINTS

Erin Larkin - Robert Parker Wine Advocate

The 2023 Prelude Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon is succulent, pliable and leafy, with notes of moss, green tea, cassis, raspberry seed and nori. In the mouth, the tannins are friendly wrought yet granular, with striking acidity that weaves in and out of the fruit characters. This leans on the more herbal side of Cabernet—even moving toward a touch astringent through the finish—however, this also emphasizes its detail and complexity, which are certain attributes in any Cabernet wine. 13.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.