David White

9.2

Western Australian Shiraz which at 10 years is very good with balanced fruit and acidity with well integrated tannins. — 4 months ago

Doug Powers

9.1

Mulberry and blueberry aromas and flavors, fresh and lively still, lovely acidity, long finish, very fine Great Southern Shiraz! — a year ago

with Jim

Jane Hoffman

9.5

Spicy and peppery, even a bit smoky, with rich dark red cherry and baked blueberry flavors — 3 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.4

Initial impressions were mint, capsicum and herbs. Savoury winning out over fruit. More red currant rather than black currant Barb thought. Expected a little more mid palate fruit which is one of the reasons that Margaret River Cabernet is more complete than the cooler climate Frankland River (south east of Margaret River) where this is the product of a single vineyard. Don’t get me wrong this is still a wonderful Cabernet which honours the amazing contribution of Jack Mann who made wine for Houghtons for 51 consecutive vintages. — 5 years ago

Rachael Doob

9.1

Petrol notes on the nose and palate. Some citrus lemon and bright acidity. Juicy medium bodied dry Riesling. Love it! — 6 years ago

Aaron Tan

9.3

Been a fan of this cuvee since it's inception. To me, this is about as close as Aussie riesling gets to its German counterpart. Neither a good or bad thing, but I love that link between two countries I adore in this wine. That said, this was one of the best Aussie rieslings I've had all year.

German inspired methods on Western Australian fruit. From Frankland Estate's website:

All riesling grapes are harvested as cool as possible and pressed immediately, slow press cycles allow for soft and long extraction. Blocks and picks are kept separate and some juice from most blocks is fermented in barrel format for interest and comparison purposes. Picking decisions are made on ripeness and fruitfulness, with the main aim of working with natural balance yet intentionally look for greater ripeness with this wine and as a result greater degree of phenolic influence and texture. Juice is sent to tank to settle overnight (without enzyme or any additions). A cloudy juice is run to a combination of 1000ltr and 500ltr barrels. Fermentation is spontaneous and temperature controlled to some degree but temperature range is generally higher than tank fermentations. Post fermentation barrels are topped and left un-sulphured through to spring time quite often if residual sugars are high fermentation will be left to start again in spring as juice warms. Sulphur will be introduced when a decision is made on the vitality/fruitfulness of the wine and residual sugar is seen to be in balanced with the wine. Wine was left in barrel for 10 months (January).

The resulting wine is textural, spicy, and generous. Doesn't quite have the extract of German rieslings, but there's length, balance, and most importantly, it's uniquely its own wine. I feel that the provenance of the fruit shines through all that winemaking - that crunchy fruit-first with more green apple/citrus than stone fruits, steeliness, and light whiff of smoke/petrol. It's also remarkably clean for a barrel-treated wine (say compared to Koehler-Ruprecht or JB Becker). Enough with the rant because the takeaway is that it's delicious! — 7 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.4

Notes of mandarin on both nose and palate. Not a skerrick of TDN - clean and pure. Almost off dry in the light to medium bodied palate with peachy notes developing. Tastes a lot younger than 11 years. One of the most isolated vineyards in the remote terroir of Frankland River. The wine is aptly named as “Isolation Ridge”. — 7 months ago

Bob McDonald

9.5

A refined Cabernet nose and palate. Medium bodied showing mint, herbs and cassis. Frankland River a little cooler than Margaret River nearby but doesn’t have the maritime effect that MR has. Around 10 years ago Larry Cherubino was the “enfant terrible” of the WA wine scene - the talented newcomer. Julia Harding MW (Jancis’s right hand associate) was enticed from the UK to be a senior judge at the Margaret River Wine Show and ended up on a tour of Frankland River wineries with Larry Cherubino. A fascinating article on the Jancis Robinson website if you’re interested. In summary this was an excellent wine. Points off for a way too heavy bottle. — 2 years ago

Johnno Harris

9.6

Outstanding. The bottle is far too small!! — 4 years ago

Alex Kate

9.0

Nice red, cheap — 5 years ago

Erika Turner

9.5

Fresh salty racy — 7 years ago

with See

Oh Li

9.0

Quite full bodied but not too much. Don’t feel the tannins and smooth. Not fruity. Love it. with DT and sudave — 7 years ago

Marla Frederick

10

Strong taste of peach which makes me salivate for impeachment. Perfect topper to a great news day. I can’t rank anything less than a perfect ten at this moment. — 8 years ago

Scott C

Founder / Co-director SR Wine imports

9.4

One of the best Grenache wines I have ever tasted . Wow wow wow ! Time for people to realise how good Australian wines can be . Stunning ! — 10 months ago

Doug Powers

9.1

Aromas and flavors of mulberry and redfruits, medium-bodied, medium-long finish, lovely Frankland River Syrah made by Robb Mann, who we were lucky enough to meet and taste with (along with his lovely wife Genevieve) in Margaret River!! — 2 years ago

with Monique and Jim

Doug Powers

9.1

Blackberry fruit aromas and flavors, nice balance, some cool-climate notes as well, medium-long finish, very fine. — 2 years ago

with Jim and Monique

Ellie

9.0

Love the flavour. Could do with couple more years to develop just a slightly smoother finish on palette. — 5 years ago

Sweton Stewart

9.2

We had this with Sous vide chicken. Good acid line and the quality shines through. — 5 years ago

with Rosslyn

Michael Wilson

9.2

Like gargling stones. So good — 7 years ago

with Scott

John Nelmes

9.0

Wonderful cool climate Shiraz — 8 years ago