The winemaker for this vintage was Michael Kerrigan and there will be at least a few bottles of this going straight to the pool room. Aromas of blackcurrant, cherry, wet earth, aniseed and fine cigar box oak. Beautifully perfumed. On the palate full bodied with blackcurrant, cherry, earth and spicy cigar box oak. Perfect weight and balance with the oak already folding into the fruit. Firm fine tannins run the length of the seamless palate. Very long sweet fruit and tobacco tinged finish. Essential Australian cabernet. Rated : 97 Points; Drink : 2011 - 2024; Gary Walsh; The Wine Front
 
One of the most powerful and concentrated yet in this distinguished line. Dark blackcurrant, black olive and ripe plum aromas and flavours. It's powerful yet elegant. May well be the best yet. 97 Points ; Ray Jordan, Guide to West Australian Wine
 
Flooded with ripe, gently sweet blackcurrant fruit, it has a lovely silky texture and grain on the long palate and finish. Mount Barker Cabernet Sauvignon (81%)/Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon (17%) /Margaret River Merlot (2%). 14.5º alc. Rating 96 points Drink 2024 $75 Date Tasted Sep 06  James Halliday Australian Wine Companion 2008 
 
Howard Park is one of the maturing WA players, making incredibly consistent, top-quality wine since 1986. Fast forward to 2004, a stunning vintage for cabernet in Margaret River, and Howard Park has delivered a classic flagship cabernet. Ripe, dense and juicy cassis fruits, some roasting herbs, wet concrete, mulberry-scented merlot and stylish cedary oak – this is complex and alive. The palate has terrific depth, rippling with raw youthful power, it unfolds in stunning layers of fine tannin. One for the cellar, it drinks dangerously well right now but will be at its complex, mellow best from 2016. 96 points Nick Stock Adelaide Review
 
Howard Park Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot 2004 ($75) screwcap: Stick your nose in it and see its quality immediately. It smells gorgeous and good. Pencils, blackcurrant, gravel, dried herbs, mulberry, chocolate and lots of other delectibles. It tastes balanced too, and comes blessedly void of any real alcohol warmth - something of a rarity in Australian reds at the moment. Good tannin structure. Excellent fruit. Layers of complexity. It needs to relax through the finish - but time will look after that. Drink: 2015-2025. 95 points. Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front