Tasting Notes
Magpie Hill is the highest and most central part of the Duke’s vineyard and provides the fruit for their flagship wines. Cabernet does particularly well in the cool conditions of the Porongurups, producing a much more elegant and restrained style than you might expect from Western Australia. Cassis, black cherry and redcurrant sit alongside violets, cedar, spice and a little dark chocolate. There’s real concentration here, but the tannins are fine and beautifully composed, with fresh acidity and a savoury, mineral character running through the wine. Serious, classic Cabernet with a long life ahead of it. - Chris L
Duke’s Vineyard is a small, highly regarded estate at the foot of the Porongurup Range in Western Australia’s Great Southern. Founded by Duke and Hilde Ranson in 1999, the vineyard built its reputation around precise, long-lived Riesling, culminating in the 2017 Magpie Hill Reserve Riesling being named Halliday’s Australian Wine of the Year.
In 2022, Duke and Hilde handed the property to winemaker Ben Cane and his partner Sarah Date. Cane, formerly chief winemaker at Cape Mentelle, has continued the estate’s focus on Riesling, Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz while moving the vineyard towards organic and biodynamic farming and introducing varieties including Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The wines reflect the cool, elevated Porongurup landscape: elegant, finely structured and driven by freshness, with a strong emphasis on expressing the vineyard rather than winemaking technique.
| Product Type | Wine Red Cabernet Sauvignon |
| Volume | 750ml |
| Country | Australia |
| Region | Western Australia |
| Sub Region | Great Southern |
| Winemaking Practices | Conventional |
| Vineyard Practices | Conventional |