2015 Chapel Hill Winery Cabernet Sauvignon McLaren Vale 750 ml

Cabernet From a “Best Winemaker in the World”

Consider this: Current-release all-estate top Cabernet from Napa starts at $75 and goes up. But 100% Cabernet purity from McLaren Vale offers numerous options south of $40, with accolades to boot. Case in point: today’s 2015 Chapel Hill, a pure expression of entirely estate Cabernet Sauvignon and a beautiful wine at its $40 release price. 

This 2015 Chapel Hill—a juicy, cassis, blackberry-and-blueberry-infused Cabernet—was born from perfectly symmetrical hillside vines with views of the Gulf of St. Vicent. The vineyard lies on the jagged, rocky edge of the famous Onkaparinga Gorge where it is drenched in midday sun, and vines are bookended by marine-fog-shrouded mornings and nights. The result is spectacular reds of concentrated black and blue fruit balanced with great lift and verve.

Over the last four decades, Chapel Hill has been turning out some of the best, most balanced, stunningly affordable Cabernet Sauvignon in Australia, and critics like Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate have noticed, calling Chapel Hill “a classic source for McLaren Vale wines,” and Australia’s leading critic, James Halliday gave it his top accolade of 5-stars.

Wine has always held a special place in the evolution of Chapel Hill—the spiritual leaders who laid the first bricks of the actual Seaview Chapel did so in 1865 and, we imagine, began serving sacramental wines. But did those sanctimonious founders ever imagine that 150 years later, their beloved Chapel would turn out world-class wine and serve as a spiritual luxury retreat for admirers of gorgeously balanced Aussie Cabernet? It’s unlikely.

If the sacramental wine was half as good as Chapel Hill’s wine is today, those parishioners had it good. We assuredly have it better. “Top,” “legendary,” and “dashing,” are words commonly used by local media to describe Chapel Hill’s Michael Fragos, CEO and winemaker. Fragos was twice-named “Best Winemaker in the World” by London’s International Wine Competition and he’s a local in-demand consultant.

Next to pricier competition from Coonawarra and Margeret River, Fragos is well aware that McClaren Vale offers prime terroir for Cabernet Sauvignon—the valley is, after all, the birthplace of Australian wine and Cabernet is king among varieties there. Vineyards dot the rugged mountainous terrain and cascade down toward the Gulf. It’s a place of stark beauty and a source for wild Cabernet bargains—if you know where to look. We’ll do the leg work, and find the boutique wineries hiding out in ancient chapels. All you need to do is grab some glassware.