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Vintage report: Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 & Chardonnay 2022

Untypically for one of our vintage reports, in Western Australia we’ve put the spotlight on different vintages for red and white, with Cabernets coming from the tricky 2021 and Chardonnays from the contrastingly heat-driven 2022. Our author in residence selects 20 top wines from each.

For Decanter’s inaugural Margaret River vintage report, producers were asked to submit wines from the 2021 vintage for Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnays from 2022, which were all then tasted blind.

While the 2022 whites shone, the 2021 reds reflected the cooler and somewhat challenging vintage conditions many faced, including unusual February rainfall.

Should a wine score be indicative of what’s typically expected of the region and variety, or is it fairer and more useful to look at the wine with fresh eyes and no preconceived ideas?

There are champions for both approaches; mine here is not to reprimand wines that don’t speak of typicity, if the hallmarks of a great wine are nonetheless there to be found.


Scroll down to see notes and for the leading Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay wines from the 2021 and 2022 vintages in Margaret River



Margaret River: 40 of the best from 2021 and 2022

Wines are ordered by colour then score.


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