Margaret River is not only a Chardonnay story. Cabernet still carries the region’s long game.
Drinks Trade’s Halliday roundup crowns Devils Lair Cabernet 2023 as Cabernet of the Year. The wine sits in WA’s classic Cabernet grammar: blackcurrant, bay leaf, fine tannin, and maritime freshness that keeps power from turning jammy. That matters in a decade when many drinkers want reds with lift, not only with oak and alcohol.
Mini-lesson: Cabernet structure is architecture. Tannin is the beams; acid is the air between rooms. A Cabernet of the Year usually wins because the architecture holds — not because someone piled on more flavouring.
For Gen Z choosing wine for a dinner that needs a serious red, this is the intentional lane. Cabernet earns the night when the food is rich and the conversation is long — a different job from a picnic pét-nat or a midweek can.
Margaret River Cabernet’s maritime edge keeps black fruit from tipping into jam, which is why it still anchors serious red lists. Cabernet of the Year status helps trade buyers defend a higher price rung. Structure-led reds remain how wine owns steak night without needing a novelty can.
Pattern: Devils Lair Cabernet of the Year. Margaret River reds keep matching the white trophies.