This is named after Jeff Burch’s Great Grandfather and mentor, Walter Abercrombie. Each vintage, this has historically contained the select fruit from Howard Park’s best sites, including from the original 1975 plantings of the Abercrombie Vineyard in Great Southern. From 2022, winemaker Nic Bowen has elected to make this a purely Margaret River expression. The Leston vineyard is in the Wilyabrup subregion, established in 1996 by the Burch family. The fruit for this wine mostly comes from block 29, which was planted to Houghton clone Cabernet Sauvignon. The maritime influences here temper the extremes of the seasons, producing very elegant and structured Cabernet Sauvignon.
With variances according to vintage, small, pristine parcels of fruit are hand-picked, sorted, and destemmed prior to fermentation. Various vinification techniques are used over many parcels, which are kept separate through barrel maturation (which is usually in French barriques approximately 30% new) to provide a patchwork of Cabernet to be composed only just before bottling.
2024
“A full and deep ruby with a touch of purple at the edge. Blackcurrant, black olive and bay leaf aromas. The nose doesn’t prepare you for the intensity and power, yet control, that the palate brings. Black fruits shine early, then a melange of wood spices, dried bay and rosemary, along with dusty earth and tobacco leaf, sends the senses into overdrive. All that complexity is well wrapped in gravelly tannins, powerful but in keeping with everything else on show. It carries a prodigious length and finishes with a fresh fruit lift contrasted with gravel tension. A delight now, but maturity will shine a light on even more detail.” 96 points, Stuart Knox, The Real Review
“The ’23 Abercrombie was a hard act to follow and yet this one runs it mighty close. Comes off the less than vineyard in Margaret River now a mature site producing high-quality fruit. The aromas of blackcurrant a little bay leaf and black olive with lightly liqueur chocolate overtones captivate immediately. But it’s a palate where this really excels. It’s been crafted to achieve remarkable elegance and poise combining the power of cabernet but supporting it with such beautifully managed tannin and oak so it’s almost velvety smooth creating an effortless thread through to the finish. Another exceptional wine.” 98 points, Ray Jordan, Ray Jordan Wine
2023
“It is a glorious statement of Margaret River cabernet. The colour is bright and lustrous, the aromas perfumed and alive, while the palate simply sings. Fine tannins and reduced French oak harness some simply glorious fruit.” 99 points, Ray Jordan
95 points, Jane Faulkner, Halliday Wine Companion
96 points, Jeni Port, Wine Pilot
95+ Points, Kasis Sobisiak, The Wine Front
95 Points, Aaron Brasher, The Real Review
96 Points, Tyson Stelzer, WBM
97 Points, The Vintage Journal
97 Points, Andrew Calliard, Wine Pilot
95 Points, Aaron Brasher, The Real Review
2022
“Very perfumed, showing aromas of wild blackberries, blackcurrants, tobacco, graphite and cedar. The palate is medium- to full-bodied with refined tannins and bright acidity, giving notes of boysenberries, mulberries, mocha and olive tapenade. Very refined and fresh with an underlying power. Drink or hold.” 96 points, Top 100 Wines of Australia, James Suckling.
Gold, Decanter World Wine Awards, 2025
98 points, Ray Jordan
97 points, Halliday Awards Top Rated 2025, Halliday Wine Companion
97 points, Tyson Stelzer’s Top 250 Wines, 2024
94+ Points, Tom Kline, Wine Pilot
93 points, Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate
Matthew Jukes’ 100 Best Australian Wines 2025
2020
98 points, Ray Jordan, Western Australian Wine Guide 2024
95 polints, Halliday Wine Companion
94 points, Andrew Caillard, Vintage Journal
94 points, Angus Hughson, Wine Pilot
93 points, Ned Goodwin, JamesSuckling.com
92 points, Wine Enthusiast
2018
97 points, Vinous
97 points, James Suckling
96 points, Gourmet Traveller WINE
95 points, Erin Larkin, Halliday Wine Companion
94 points, Oz Wine Review
95 points, Wine Enthusiast
