The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Knights Valley, blended with 3% Petit Verdot, has a deep ruby-purple color and alluring aromas of black cherries, blueberries, thyme, aniseed and violet with touches of tobacco leaves and cedar. The medium-bodied palate has smooth, finely grained tannins and bright acidity, finishing long and floral. Its new French oak is integrating gracefully, and its bright, aromatic character makes this ideal for early drinking.

The 2019 Cabernet Franc comes 50/50 from the Keyes vineyard, with old vines dating back to 1976, and La Jota vineyard. Deep garnet-purple in color, it is a little subdued to begin, opening out to reveal notes of redcurrant jelly, fresh blackberries, and black cherries, plus hints of charcoal, underbrush, and red roses with a touch of crushed rocks. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is finely grained with superb freshness and electric intensity, finishing with amazing length and shimmering energy.

The blocks for this wine were planted between 1971 and 2002, each of them yielding little. The wine has 3% Malbec in a blend. Destemmed, sorted, cold soaked, pumped over on a daily basis and 21 days on skins. Basket pressed to new and used French barriques. Dark purple in hue, there is serious structure here. Firm and focused, dense and yet balanced. There are aromas of mocha, coffee grinds, blackcurrants, florals, dried fruits and chocolate. Excellent length, the intensity is maintained throughout and the finish is tied up neatly by those firm tannins. This is youthful, but has a good ten years plus ahead of it. Excellent warmer climate Cabernet.

Very bright, youthful purple colour, medium depth, the nose also very young and a bit callow, with some estery notes, plummy notes too, the palate intense and quite powerful, straightforward and bold with a hint of mid-palate fruit sweetness and a very long carry. It's not that delicate but is a solid mouthful of pinot, and should reward a little cellar time.

Medium red-purple, bright colour; pronounced spicy, floral and dark-cherry aromas with a lick of smart oak; the palate is rich and full in profile, with abundant softly drying tannins and a bold, up-front structure. A generous pinot, of focused intensity and a long carry. It's refined and aromatic but also powerful, a wine of considerable charm.

Stunning, with incredible vibrancy and concentration to the orange sherbet, lemon curd and ruby grapefruit flavors at the core. Features fresh-grated ginger, lemon thyme and salted melon on the finish. Drink now.

Very ripe and well concentrated, this full-bodied wine is saturated with delicious black plums and black cherries, gently spiced with oak notes of cinnamon, clove and ginger. An ultrasmooth texture comes from fine-grained tannins. Best through at least 2028.

Rose and geranium rise from the nose of this aromatic wine, which presents as light and airy in texture despite a full-bodied frame. Rhubarb, pomegranate and cacao nib combine around hints of slate and white pepper.

There’s a very approachable feel to this pinot, with aromas of blueberries, blackcurrants and sweet hard spices, such as star anise. The palate has a polished feel, with a plush texture and a plump blueberry and black-cherry core. Drink over the next six years. Screw cap.

From winemaker emeritus Ted Edwards (with 90% Cabernet Sauvignon), this opens with enticing aromas of blackcurrant, spicy tobacco and fresh loamy earth. Effusive palate of dark fruit flavours, elongated satiny tannins, crisp blood-orange-like acidity and nuanced wild herbs, with a sanguine mineral finish. At a decade of age, it still has plenty of life ahead of it.

The Bosché vineyard sits on a gravel bench, with a high water table, and requires a bit more attention to control vigour. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot are planted here, and each year roughly 5%-10% of Merlot will make it into the final blend (7% in 2018). Bright black fruit nose with pretty red florals and classic Rutherford dust. Beguiling blueberry and black cherry flavours abound, while angular tannins segue to a confected finish. A wine to really contemplate.

Produced by winemaker emeritus Ted Edwards, with 84% Cabernet Sauvignon. Fresh black fruit and high-toned black olive perfume with wood spices. Weighty flavours of black fruit, spice cake and forest-floor notes run up against powerful burly tannins, which become chalky on the mid-palate, while a fresh, spicy finish unspools with intriguing red apple skin and rose petal florals.

In the glass this displays a dark and glossy hue, which leads to a complex nose filled with toasted blackberry, liquorice, black olive and vanilla pod, along with some floral elements reminiscent of dried violets, as well as a suggestion of cool crushed chalk. Beautifully poised on the palate, this is very finely textured, bordering on silky, the texture supporting layers of dark fruits, blackberry, olive and currant. It is packed out with ripe and tightly grained tannins which come to prominence in the middle and especially at the end. It is spicy too, certainly energetic, with a thread of pepper, long and charged. This is an exciting wine now, but I think the real joy lies a few years away yet. Give it five more, maybe a few more, to see it at its best The declared alcohol is 14.5%.

Succulent, packed with black cherry and blackberry flavors allied to a dense foundation of tannins. Offers leather, licorice, earth and oak spice details, and finishes long and balanced. Sophisticated and complex. Cabernet Franc. Best from 2024 through 2037.

The 2021 vintage for south-eastern Australia has been the rose between two thorny vintages. The swell of excellent releases solidifies its greatness.
This chardonnay is a blend of their single sites; Sexton, Tarraford, Applejack, Primavera and Wombat Creek vineyards. Earthy aromas of moss and seashell sit alongside white florals and orange zest. It’s finely boned and holds a good line; with air it gains breadth. This is a very fine Aussie chardonnay, it’s complex and delicious with great staying power that speaks of classy fruit sourcing.
With a change of guard at Giant Steps and Mel Chester taking over, we look forward to seeing upcoming releases from this exemplary producer.

The 2020 Chardonnay Viñedo Maricerro from Portezuelo, Itata, was fermented in 20% new French barrels. Yellow with a greenish sheen. The nose offers apple, pear, hazelnut and gentle buttery notes plus hints of melon, creamed corn and praline. In the mouth, it’s broad and buttery, with good fat and sharp freshness that stretches out the oaky finish. A well-balanced, California-style white.

The 2021 Clay Ferment Chardonnay is a wine that's made in small quantities—and perhaps difficult to get outside of Australia—however, it's an interesting proposition and one that goes some way toward revealing the importance of "subregional" DNA. There is one clay egg of each of the single vineyards, where the wine was vinified separately and then blended together prior to bottling. The eggs behave like oak barrels in terms of their micro-porosity and fermentation kinetics, however they leave no flavor artifact, making it a perfect vessel to understand the individual vineyard sites. This is slightly cloudy in the glass, with low sulfur at bottling, and via the unfined nature, it retains all the good phenolic texture and grip that can make Chardonnay so excellent. This has really good persistence of flavor in the mouth: power from Sexton, green olive and caper brine from Tarraford, savory white miso/from Applejack and pork crackling from Wombat Creek. This all alongside the white orchard fruit, of course. This is a fascinating wine that will titillate the purists to no end. An interesting side note: The clay eggs are handmade in coastal New South Wales. They're very delicate, so much so that the team brings them to temperature with filtered water prior to filling, so that when they're "loaded up" they don't go into thermal shock and crack. They really are handled like eggs.

The 1998 Verite is a blend of 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. Medium to deep garnet-brick colored, it opens with mature cigar box, smoked meats, and fruitcake notes, leading to suggestions of dried roses and crushed rocks. Medium to full-bodied, the palate has evocative exotic spices and dried plums flavors with soft, powdery tannins and a minerally finish. 1998 was the first vintage release of Vérité. At this time, the only labels made were La Joie and this Merlot-based blend simply called "Vérité," later to become "La Muse."

The 1998 La Joie, a blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Merlot, is deep garnet-brick colored. Notions of ginger cake, Chinese five spice, dried figs, black currant jelly, and Morello cherries burst from the glass, followed by hints of iron ore and dried herbs. The medium to full-bodied palate is plush and opulent, with loads of exotic spice layers and a refreshingly vibrant lift on the finish. 1998 was the first vintage release for Vérité. At this time, the only labels made were La Joie and a Merlot-based blend simply called "Vérité," later to become "La Muse."

This has lift and drive, with a racy-edged set of pomegranate, blood orange and red currant coulis flavors that are well-defined and course through, while red tea, mineral and savory accents add mouthwatering range through the finish. Shows nice coiled-up energy for cellaring, too. Drink now through 2032.

Packed with bramble-laced blackberry and mulberry fruit, this has excellent energy from start to finish, with mouthwatering anise and apple wood notes in the background. Shows a subtle singed sandalwood edge that provides a touch of perfume. Distinctive and delicious. Drink now through 2030.

This is an interesting blend of 50% Grenache Blanc, 25% Roussanne, 12% Clairette, 9% Piquepoul and 4% Bourboulenc. Portions of the first two varieties are skin fermented and macerated for 90-126 days, with a result that 59% of the blend was skin macerated. Aged in large ceramic eggs. Soils are weathered sands mixed with ironstone gravels. It’s a fresh, refined and beautifully balanced white wine with some well integrated structure supporting fresh pear and citrus fruit. There’s a hint of white peach, mint and mandarin, but the main thrust on the palate is delicate citrus fruit, with a sense of finesse, and finishing compact and slightly structured. This is a rarity: a wine with a significant skin ferment portion, but also lovely balance and delicacy, and it should age in interesting ways. Still very pure and primary, and not at all blowsy or rich, as some expressions of Rhône whites can be.

The only one of the Mt Brave wines that isn't 100% varietal, the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Mt. Veeder includes 4% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot and 1% Malbec. Offering hints of sage and lavender entwined among waves of cassis, this full-bodied wine may not be as broad or expansive in the mouth as the La Jota, but it also might be a touch juicier and longer on the finish.

The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain is 88% Cabernet Sauvignon, with small proportions of Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Merlot and Petit Verdot. It's ripe and rich, with plenty of cassis, hints of cinnamon and cedar and nuances of bay leaf on the nose. Full-bodied and velvety, it's remarkably easy to drink, finishing mouthwatering and long.

Blended from portions of Sycamore, Bosché and another vineyard, Freemark Abbey's 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford features scents of cassis, plum and hints of dark chocolate on the nose. A blend of 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Petit Verdot and 4% Cabernet Franc, matured in 55% new French oak, it's full-bodied, dusty and firmly built. There's even more structure here than in the Oakville bottling, yet the wine remains elegant on the lengthy finish.