Yesterday, I sat down with Randy Ullom, the affable 'winemaster' at Kendall-Jackson, and tasted ten wines from their portfolio. Some of the entry level wines are currently available at (and imported by) Dan Murphy's, with the higher end of the range looking for distribution. Vineyard here is in the Santa Maria Valley, using clone 5 Chardonnay grown on its own roots. Vine age is around 40 years. Rich, biscuitty, sweet cinnamon spice oak, more to the peach and sweet lime fruit spectrum, though tropical fruit lazes in the mix. Full bodied, burst of flavour, light butter and savoury spice, gentle flintiness and very good length. Bold, but beautiful. Manages to combine larger scale Chardonnay flavour with style and precision. Liked it a lot.

Very pure, focused, intense, a Chardonnay whose minerality and fresh acidity provide grounding and structure to the elaborate, decadently good flavors. Exotic, with waves of tropical fruit pastry, lemondrop candy, golden mango, pineapple, crème brûlée, buttered toast and dusty Asian spices.

Absolutely brilliant, but very limited production...the 2007 Highland Estates Chardonnay Seco Highlands.

The nose is a sensational mix of oatmeal, subtle oak and vanilla, with bits of butter, mineral and spicy orange flecks. The palate is a creamy mix of pineapple, papaya, citrusy lime notes, along with a créme brûlée finish. Perhaps the best finesse yet, with only 55 percent new French oak in the barrel ferment. A first-class chardonnay that over-delivers.

Even better is the exceptionally complex 2006 Chardonnay Seco Highland Estates, which is a brilliant Chardonnay from Monterey. This is a more limited production cuvée of 560 cases, but the price is certainly fabulous for a Chardonnay of this quality. It has that nice greenish hue to the straw color, a gorgeous nose of orange blossoms intermixed with brioche, leesy waxiness, and some superb tropical fruit, with beautiful acidity and minerality. This is a stunner that could easily pass for a great French grand cru in a blind tasting.

Another first rate release from KJ's Highland Estate series this time from Santa Maria Valley, Santa Barbara County. Stunningly rich and sophisticated, it's 100 percent barrel fermented but by using only 35 percent new French oak it has both power and elegance wrapped about a tropical fruit tour de force of pineapple, mango, baked apple pie and spicy vanilla. This is the full meal deal without being over the top. One of the best California chardonnay in the market at a highly attractive price.

K-J's new Highland Series has whittled down the barrels and vineyards to a single elegant expression of Santa Maria fruit aged in only 30 percent new French oak barrels. Its flavour intensity is off the scale, yet the wine is polished, elegant and eminently worthy of the dinner table. Look for super, tropical fruit flavours and apple pie spiked with cinnamon and lime rind, and finished with a creamy lees undercoating. Terrific, to say the least.

I could imagine drinking this wine throughout an entire four-course meal and it making everything from salad to steak and dessert, better. It's fabulously rich, dry, acidic and complex. The Santa Maria Valley is famous for the tropical fruits and spices this wine shows in spades.

Floral, citrus, honey, baked apple, vanilla cream and mineral aromas waft out of the glass. Ripe and round with big spicy, citrus, floral, mango, peaches and cream flavours and a creamy, vanilla orange finish. Elegant, crisp and long with a spicy, lees aftertaste. Very stylish.

Ripe mango, pineapple, citrus, mineral aromas with fine toasty, spicy lees, vanilla and honey notes. Rich, ripe and round but elegant with oily, creamy, mango, pineapple, spicy vanilla flavours and a long toasty, honey, mineral finish. Good acidity and length, extremely fine and tasty.

Biggest Australian Wine Tasting Ever: 2,700+ Ratings Impressive and harmonious aromas here with such juicy and intense red-fruit flavors, as well as blueberries and plums on offer. The elegance and focus is impressive, as is the delivery of long, sustained and dense, smooth tannin. Integrated. Really works well. Drink or hold. Screw cap.

Biggest Australian Wine Tasting Ever: 2,700+ Ratings Attractive cassis and ripe purple fruit with a wealth of blueberries and hints of cola nuts. The palate has a juicy feel with exceptional depth, length and a complete tannin texture. Really seamless and long. Excellent cabernet. Drink or hold. Screw cap.

Bush vine grenache from a block planted in 1962. 10% whole bunches. Matured in Burgundy-coopered barrels. 473 dozen made. Smooth as silk, ripped with spice, pulled more-or-less taut through the finish and yet various flavours remain free to flow like the outreaches of a flag. You get spice drenched length, you get florals, you get a core of succulent raspberry and anise. In short, you get a textbook example of quality McLaren Vale grenache.

Brilliant Grenache from Clarendon perched 225m above. Such a delicious wine with a savoury drive the highlight. The vineyard was planted in 1962. Handpicked fruit with 10% whole bunches used. Matured in a selection of five-year-old barrels. Don't walk up here expecting raspberries and strawberries. Fine spices coupled with dried fig and dried dates sit at the core of this wine. It runs deep with plenty of meaty generosity in its veins. Some dried red flower aromas add some floral prettiness. Brick dust like tannins are scattered across the mouth leaving a long and drying finish. A superb rendition of Grenache - it's hard to resist another glass.

Why Australian Wine is Some of the Most Exciting in the World Beautifully struck in terms of ripeness. There are intense raspberry aromas and flavors, as well as some blueberries and blackberries. Tannins fan out effortlessly. Silky and smooth. It also shows great freshness at the finish.

Deep red/purple colour, with an impressive aroma of blueberry, raspberry and spicy oak backing. A hint of almond. The wine is bright and intense in the mouth, medium to full-bodied, its exuberant fruit tempered by savoury tannins and fresh acidity. A very classy merlot, beautifully balanced and leaning more to the dark-fruit style than the tobacco or olivaceous style.

There's a lovely sense of restraint here, with firm tannins reining in complex, detailed flavors of blueberry pie, kirsch and dark chocolate. Espresso, clove and caramel notes add even more complexity on the finish, where the flavors continue to unfold.

Why Australian Wine is Some of the Most Exciting in the World A wine that really shows the prowess and attractive nature of the shiraz that this vineyard can produce. The concentrated yet fresh red plums and cherries really sing on the palate. Tannins glide like layers of silk. A brilliant wine.

Juicy and vibrant, showing terrific purity to the raspberry and black cherry flavors at the polished and refined core, with supple tannins and details of Earl Grey tea, violet and toasted cumin. Impressive for the seamless harmony and the creamy texture, this shows a tug of grip from the tannins on the finish.

Australia: Catching Up The inky-purple 2016 Trueman Cabernet Sauvignon is a super effort. It boasts intense, classic aromas of pencil shavings and cassis on the nose, then delivers rich waves of velvety but structured fruit on the full-bodied palate. If there's any complaint, it's that it's perhaps a bit too monolithic, but it's a young wine and should add layers of complexity given enough time in the cellar. It's not unapproachable now, but it probably won't fully hit its stride for at least five years and then be drinkable for at least a decade after that.

Polished and elegant, with refined raspberry and wild strawberry flavors and an edge of matcha. Velvety tannins and bass notes of sage, cedar and black pepper showcase a wine of power and restraint.

Light purple color. Deep and gorgeous nose of rich plums and black currants, but the fruit is laced with complex notes of tobacco leaf, cigar shop, mint, bay leaf, leather, some cocoa and vanilla. Full-bodied with solid tannins, moderating acidity keeps it lively, and the fruit comes in waves: tart black currants, black cherry, chilled plums. Complex and earthy with notes of loam, roasted herb, spearmint chewing tobacco, notes of cedar and vanilla and mixed in but not dominant. Long life ahead here, but this is gorgeous stuff.

Opaque ruby. Spicy rich blackberry with a chocolate note on the nose. Lovely balanced palate with bright notes that lift the wine. Bright fruit with good depth and earth notes. Fresh balanced and very flavorful. Delicious long finish. A powerhouse.

Heady aromas of black currant, rhubarb, old library books and Chinese five spice are backed by an earthy spine. The palate of this full-bodied wine is a lovely balance of richness and restraint, with earthy, savory elements ensconced in velvety, fine-grained tannins. Enjoy with Moroccan lamb.