The 2008 Sideways Cabernet Merlot is an outstanding example of the Margaret River cabernet blend from a great vintage. There are aromas of blackberry, mulberry, smoked meats and roasted cherry tomatoes with the underlying regional bay leaf and black currant Cabernet Sauvignon fruit. The palate shows wonderful Merlot power: layered fruit characters of plum and forest floor with herbal and earthy complexity, a savoury edge to the ripe gravely mouth-filling tannin structure which finishes long and fine. The Petit Verdot adds a subtle but important firmer backbone to the line of the wine.