1990 was a celebrated vintage across Australia and no less so in the Great Southern and Margaret River. The 1990 Howard Park Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot is a fine example of varietal Cabernet Sauvignon from the Great Southern showing classic herbal and minty notes with blackberry fruits. Merlot from Margaret River provides mid palate sweetness and a touch of chocolate flavour. This is a very youthful wine still quite lean and tight in structure, I would expect that the 1990 is still some years away from opening up fully and expressing the full fruit characters. I think that this wine is similar to the 1988, which took a considerable time in bottle to open up.