What was once considered the Leeuwin Estate second line wine after the Art Series, the Prelude Series is able to stand out on its own. These days, the Prelude cabernet sauvignon is more than the poor man’s cab sav, this is a great drink. Likewise, the chardonnay is a pretty decent example of chardy winemaking too.

I do remember a long way back when the Prelude cabernet sauvignon sold for $16 per bottle, that is a big change, these days a Prelude cabernet sauvignon is found in the $29 – $32 range with the Prelude chardonnay slightly more expensive in the $31 – $ 33 price range. This is not a cheap bottle of wine, for those prices, you expect a premium product.

But I am really concentrating on the cab sav here, what does the cab sav have to offer the discerning wine drinker? With 98% cabernet sauvignon and 2% malbec, this 2019 vintage is as pretty much a pure cab sav as you get. The 2018 vintage is 90% cab sav and 10% merlot with 20 months maturation in French oak, with 33% new oak. The 2017 is 92% cab sav and 8% merlot with 20 months in oak. What I am finding interesting is every vintage is slightly different, there are subtle differences in winemaking but you still get a fairly uniform style – pretty good.