One of the finest Chardonnays I have yet tasted from K-J is the stunning 2009 Highland Estates Chardonnay Camelot, a classic California Chardonnay exhibiting notes of caramelized citrus, pineapples and mangos intermixed with a hint of spicy, smoky oak. It displays an attractive steely minerality, full-bodied richness, a layered mouthfeel and an extremely long finish. This beauty should drink well for 3-5 years. Kendall-Jackson enjoys a well-deserved reputation for over-delivering quality vis à vis price for its wines.

Look for a huge floral, pineapple, mango/citrus nose with honey and peach aromas and a spicy, creamy vanilla note. Rich, round and oily like most big chardonnays yet it is still elegant thanks to a mineral / citrus baked apple undercurrent. The flavours are peach, mango, honey, creamy spicy lees with a floral, creamsicle undercurrent. Long, intense and balanced with good acidity and a creamy, citrus apple finish. Great stuff.

Big, mango, pineapple, toasted, smoky, lees aromas with honey, marmalade and citrus scents. Very rich, round and oily yet well balanced on the palate. Expect intense baked apple, spicy lees, creamy mango, citrus and honey flavours. Very long with good acidity, a top quality chardonnay for those who like intensity and we do. Sensational bottle of wine.

377 dozen made. Second release of a Grenache from Hickinbotham, though the vineyard is old. Slightly reductive on opening, then into all that spice and dried herb perfume, raspberry, strawberry, and a scoop of brown earth. Medium-bodied, fresh, savoury tasting rather than fruity, a little roast lamb and thyme/rosemary thing going on, firm sandy tannin, really pushing out on the finish with exceptional length and drive. Go McLaren Vale Grenache.

Preferred this Shiraz over the Cabernet this year. See, I told you I was ill. Black and red fruit, thyme and spice, roasted meat, touch of liquorice. Medium-bodied, well-defined, freshness of/and flavour, grainy but persistent tannin, energy and length. A lot of character and interest. Really very good.

From a single block of bushvines planted in ’62, aged in seasoned barrels for 7 months. Heady aromas of raspberries, star anise and a dash of Mediterranean herbs. Lovely balance and a succulence on the medium-bodied palate, where ripe, sandy tannins kick in. Pitch-perfect now.

Cabernet sauvignon (57%) and shiraz (43%) from a block planted in 1971. The shiraz spends 15 months in Burgundy-coopered French oak, 80% new. The cabernet goes into Bordeaux-coopered oak. 467 dozen were made. It would want to be given the asking price but the quality here is quite superb. It’s an accountant’s dream: strong in volume, balanced in nature, its forward estimates bright. Cloves, tar, blackcurrant/redcurrant and choc-mint, a swoosh of smoky oak. It displays both presence and decorum. You can bank on this maturing well.

Such an elegant expression of Merlot. From vines planted in 1989 and 1976 sitting 220-245m above. The wine spent fifteen months in fine grain Bordeaux barrels, 25% which were new. Deft touches of fruit and oak swim in unison. Superfine through the mouth, whispers of clove and cigar box dance through effortlessly atop a pillow of dark plummy goodness. Soft and gorgeously long, a clever wine indeed. Will age for a decade+

It’s an impressive merlot from heady fragrance – a hint of cassis, florals, dried herbs and cedary oak – to its exceptionally silky, fuller-bodied palate. It builds flavour, the tannins sitting pretty and the finish as long as tomorrow. Makes you fall in love with merlot big time.

A quiet, though self-assured wine with excellent density. Bitter-sweet chocolate aromas followed by a savoury, composed palate. Reserved dark fruits and ripe, framing tannin. One for the cellar. (Screwcap)

Deep, bright red/purple colour, with a very appealing bouquet of black fruits, licorice and pepper spice. A hint of peppermint. There's an earthy, charcoal trace that is reminiscent of more conventional McLaren Vale shiraz. A delicious wine, the palate deftly balances fruit sweetness with savouriness and tannin dryness.

The Jackson family’s Hickinbotham property is a pure A-grade estate, and this is classic Stuff. From the 1971 contour mode planted blocks, handpicked, fermented with 50% whole berries, matured for 15 months in 30% new oak. This is next level McLaren Vale Shiraz – a lovely grainy, oak polished, dark berried red shaped by oak but not dominated, the acidity and alcohol very nicely integrated. Just a pleasurable, well balanced, full bodied Vale red with superb detail. Best drinking: Now to twenty years. 18.7/20, 95/100. 14%, $75. Would I buy it? I’m not buying wine, but if I wanted a real McLaren Vale red for the long haul, $75 for this is more than fair.

Hickinbotham wines ooze class. Single vineyard, the fruit is pristine and handled with kid gloves. Brace for power but with a soft caress all at the same time. Cedar, vanilla, cassis get the juices flowing. Great width, it's a little drying through the mid-palate. Dried herbs are prominent with a deft touch of tomato bush and mint. The longer it lingers in the glass, some black olive appears. It's hard to resist the lure for more. Drying cocoa-like tannins close it out. Someone say roast lamb? Sensational! Drinking well now but it will live well past a decade+

Why Australian Wine is Some of the Most Exciting in the World A fresh and fragrant cabernet with violets and dark rose-like floras, cassis and blueberries. There is also a decent serving of spicy oak in the mix. The palate is smoothly arranged on sheets of formidably strong tannins, which are carried seamlessly into the finish. A stunning cabernet.

The Cabernet Shiraz is the most impressive of this foursome. It offers aromas of ripe blackberry on the nose with a touch of wood spice. It is bright and densely flavored on the palate with nice red fruit notes complementing slate and black fruit. It is spicy, rich, and thick, with firm round tannins and very long finish

Matured for 15 months in French oak. Shows that serious merlot can be made in McLaren Vale (or the Clarendon Hills sector thereof). The bouquet is fragrant and accurately signals the gently savoury/dried herb undergrowth of the cassis and plum that sits firmly on top. Good tannins tie the knot.

Deep red/purple colour and a bright, fresh, primary fruit aroma of blueberry, raspberry, cassis and violets. Oak is very much in the background and it's very varietal. Medium to full-bodied, not a whopper and not very tannic. Oak is subtle as is the grip, and the fruit is very much in the spotlight. It's a more elegant iteration of this wine and remarkably approachable for its age. Drink 2016 to 2034

151 cases only. A blend of 57% cabernet sauvignon with shiraz. Two thirds of the wine was grown on a vineyard planted in 1971, the remaining third from vines planted in 2001. Restraint is the name of the game. Structure. Elegance. The long play. Fruit is ripe, deliciously so, all blackberry and boysenberry, with super fine threads of dried herb, saltbush, cigar box and red liquorice. It has a succulence. And yet it’s dry and ropey. Terrific style, and execution.

Superb wine. Generous and statuesque at once. A flood of blackberry and plum, saltbush, mocha, slings of dried herbs. Asphalt. It establishes its power, its glory, from the outset and soars through to a fully franked finish.

Hand-picked from blocks planted ’71 (70%) and ’01 (30%), destemmed, whole berry sorted then crushed into open fermenters, cold soaked, fermented with 18 days on skins, matured for 15 months in Bordeaux oak, 775 dozen made. The epitome of top quality McLaren Vale cabernet in its inimitable style, generous, yet firmly structured, cassis, choc-mint, ripe tannins and integrated oak of high quality.

Feel the power. Grown on mature cabernet and shiraz vines above Clarendon in the Onkaparinga Gorge area of McLaren Vale. 52% cabernet sauvignon, 48% shiraz. Big wine but not overdone. Settled. Confident. Not too far short of profound. Big olive, mulberry, blackcurrant flavours flood through classic dried herb, tobacco and dust notes. Oak flashes its legs but mostly shows decorum. Dark, inky colour. Integrated, grainy, swashbuckling tannin. Quintessential Australian red. Violet and vanillin in place of cattle and cane.

The first vintage made by Yangarra from the Hickinbotham Vineyard after its far larger parent company, Jackson Family Estate, purchased it in '11. Deeply coloured and unashamedly full-bodied, it has layer-upon-layer of black fruits, tannins and the French oak in which it was matured for 18 months; significantly, the decision was to not fine the tannins.

Another brilliant offering is the 2001 Chardonnay Three Jacks Vineyard, a 520-case cuvee from the cool Green Valley. It possesses a fabulous texture, medium to full body, and potentially superb nose of flint, lemon oils, pineapples, background toasty oak, and a hint of caramel. Full-bodied, weighty and rich yet remarkably agile on its feet because of good underlying acidity, this stunning Chardonnay should drink well for 5-6 years.

Pinot Noir World Series. Smoky, tarry, blackberry nose, with Indian spices mingling with oak. Rich, firm, opulent black cherry flavors in a very spicy frame, long and harmonious.

The 2017s From Sonoma A crazy good value, the 2017 Pinot Noir Russian River Valley is the appellation release from this team, and it comes from all of the estate vineyards across the Green Valley, Laguna Ridge, and Sebastopol regions. Complex notes of strawberries, cranberries, violets, pine forest, and flowers all flow to a medium-bodied Pinot Noir that has a kiss of salinity and marine notes, ripe tannins, and a great finish. This beautiful wine competes with wines costing 2-3 times the price.