This polished ruby-hued wine offers aromas of fresh violet, sage, and mint with soft notes of rose and wild strawberry. Velvety in texture with silky tannins and a long finish, the Chateau's vigneron (winemaker) and his family serves the Lassègue vintage with grilled or baked cod or halibut, often in a red sauce. It's also perfect for barbecues, especially when paired with sautéed mushrooms with garlic and vegetable gratins.

Hand-picked from the certified biodynamic estate Block 12 on a fruit day, wild yeast-open fermented with 25% whole bunches, matured in a 2500l French foudre. It's impossible to find anything done or not done that would improve this superb wine. It's (only) medium-bodied, but fills the senses with its tantalising bouquet, always with something more to say, yet it pales into insignificance once you taste the wine. It takes intensity and length to a new horizon, a sip as complex as that of a Rare Rutherglen muscat.

This is the king of Australian grenache, and is not to be undertaken lightly. Deep, although clear, in colour, it has a rainbow of flavours, its deep roots probing the soil nearby for sustenance that will provide tannins and all things needed for the grapes to provide the magic evolution of the red flowers and spices of this wine.

Planted in 1946 on a sand dune in the cooler, elevated northeast of McLaren Vale. Hand-picked and sorted in the winery, the fermentation is wild. It is a glorious example of grenache picked earlier than in the past, retaining all the freshness of red cherries/berries, spices starting to build, tannins beautifully shaped.

Whole bunches, wild yeast, open fermenters and French oak (35% new). The quality here is sensational. It delivers a power of fruit in the freshest of ways, its glove of smoky/cocoa-like oak the perfect partner. Seriously ultra-fine tannin, and accompanying length, completes what must be described as a beautiful picture.

From six estate blocks, 75% destemmed, every berry optically scrutinised by a very expensive piece of equipment that happily deals with any disease or other damage (say botrytis). Wild yeast-open fermented, plunged, 14 months in French oak (20% new). The pure singularity of this certified biodynamic wine has a different face to its King's Wood sibling. It relentlessly captures the senses with its dark spiced fruits, the aftertaste slowly diminishing.

From Block 30 (2ha) planted '46 adjacent to the High Sands Block. Hand-picked, destemmed, mechanically berry-sorted, crushed, fermentation and 138 days on skins in 675l ceramic eggs, pressed and returned to the eggs for a further 6 months maturation. Clear, bright crimson, it is 100% fresh and firm, almost to a fault. If this is an issue, all you have to do is watch its triumphal march over the years in your cellar.

Comes solely from a single 1.8ha block, wild yeast-open fermented with 25% whole bunches, 75% destemmed and mechanically sorted fruit, matured in French oak (35% new) for 15 months. Rich, complex and mildly tannic, its balance assuring those tannins will settle down and thereafter serve to assure development of the wine.

A 60/22/18% blend, destemmed, mechanically sorted, wild yeast-open fermented, plunged, on lees, matured in used oak for 10 months. What a lovely wine from a lovely vintage. It's not an ounce over medium-bodied, but it articulates the place, varieties and the year with utmost clarity. Fine tannins are stitched through the scarlet taffeta of the perfectly pitched palate.

35% grenache blanc fermented separately, 30% clairaut, 20% roussanne, 10% picpoul and 5% bourboulenc co-fermented in 675l ceramic eggs. In other less skilled hands this could be an orange wine, not a bright, crisp, racy mix of stone fruit, citrus and allspice.

Ultra-pale partridge eye hue; early-picked estate fruit produces a spicy/savoury wine that has wild strawberry flavours within a bone dry compass. If there are no Spanish restaurants available, go Italian - either will work.

Well made. Cold-soaked, matured in used French barrels for 9 months. Cherry, cherry everywhere - all types, all flavours. It all comes together on the coherent, well balanced palate and aftertaste.

Hand-picked, part destemmed and crushed into 675l ceramic eggs, 131 days on skins, then drained off and the skins discarded, part conventionally fermented in ceramic eggs, the final blend 67% skins component/33% conventional. Has developed convincingly, able to express itself well.

Hand-picked, whole-bunch pressed, wild fermented and matured in French oak (10% new punches, 90% used barriques) for 7 months. This has a lot to say for itself. The oak comes through on the bouquet, but backs off on the long, tightly structured palate, lemon and seashell flavours on the finish.

This is a tasty quaff for the budget minded. It has aromas and flavors of blackberry, cassis and herbs. It's round, with soft tannins. Nice length. Solid. 3 stars.

This has a wonderful, rich nose of pineapple, green apples, flint shavings, green mango and green pepper corns. It’s full bodied for a sauvignon blanc, with precise and slightly gritty acid that plumps up the juiciness of the fruit, which comes by way of apricot, lemon curd, sweet mango and just a slight kick of blood orange. It maintains great salinity to balance the sweet fruit, and finishes with wet slate, marjoram and white pepper. The mouthfeel on this is spectacular, with a round plumpness and lean, slightly twitchy acid finding harmony with each other. A very impressive wine. 94 points. Value: A+.

This dark red colored Pinot Noir from Kendall Jackson opens with an inviting black raspberry bouquet with hints of black cherry. On the palate, this wine is medium bodied, balanced, savory and a tad rustic. The flavor profile is an oak and earthy mineral influenced plum and raspberry blend with notes of thyme. The finish is dry and its moderate tannins linger nicely. This good value Pinot benefits from a lit aeration, so decant it and then serve it with coq au vin. Very good.

Or try Nielson’s 2017 Santa Barbara County Chardonnay with aromas of white citrus blossoms followed by flavors of tropical pineapple, citrus fruit, and a hint of salinity. This wine comes from three growing regions within Santa Barbara County: Santa Maria Valley - one of California’s coolest AVAs with one of the longest growing seasons in the world, slightly warmer in climate, the Los Alamos area with sandy loam soils, and Santa Rita Hills - characterized by a distinct gravel minerality. Enjoy!

Finally, here’s Freemark Abbey firing on all cylinders (though perhaps that has a little to do with this being a 2014 vintage instead of 2015, though both are considered excellent). A deceptively gentle body kicks off with notes of dark chocolate, raspberries, and blueberries, then folds in layers of baking spice and, ultimately, some brambly notes that evoke charred wood. The tannins are integrating beautifully here, though the wine still has some time left ahead for further improvement. A killer. A

A bit more well-rounded, there’s a gravity in this wine that’s lacking in the above two expressions, a more fulfilling black and red berry character that gives the wine a certain farmer’s market freshness, bursting with acidity and life. Notes of licorice and some dark chocolate give the wine a more engaging conclusion and a sense of opulence. A-

Again a bit on the thin side, and surprisingly bitter up front. Quite floral on the nose, a significant note of potpourri masks notes of blackberry and, to a lesser extent, blackcurrants. As the finish develops, the wine becomes takes on an uncharacteristic astringency — though a chocolate note on the back end lifts the wine up with just a touch of sweetness. B

Surprisingly underdeveloped, this cabernet starts off with promise, offering a juicy red fruit core, with notes of raspberry and red apple skins dominating. A lightly bitter tannin component lingers underneath, but the finish sees a vegetal element dominating — notes of carrot and red bell pepper — with a beef bouillon note behind. B

Medium ruby color. Lovely aromas of fresh cherries, raspberries and red plums, topped in cola, rhubarb, white pepper, violets, and some earthy-clay notes. Plush yet zesty on the palate with dusty tannins. Bountiful but crisp fruit (cherries, strawberries, raspberries), and I get notes of spiced tea, rhubarb, cola, violet petals and earth. Plump and fruity but vibrant and complex as well, this should do well with two or three years, but it’s very accessible now, too. From a block of Pommard clone in the Londer block of this vineyard, 50% whole cluster fermentation, aged 10 months in 33% new French oak.

Deep ruby color. Bright and juicy nose of raspberries, red currants, cranberry sauce, with lots of roses, violets, rhubarb and wild herbs. Plum and juicy texture but lively acidity, with dusty-light tannins. Crisp raspberries, cherries, pomegranate, tangy and chilled, with rose petals, rhubarb, mint and cola elements. Fruity and fun, but elegant, spicy, lively. It’s good to see Siduri keeping things going in this style. A blend of three-vineyards around Boonville, aged 15 months in 35% new French oak.

2020 Halliday Wine Companion Wine of the Year It’s hard to separate the impact of the place, the soil, the vines, the vintage, the viticulturist, the winemaker, the vinification and the certified biodynamic management of the 69-year-old dry-grown bush vines. All have contributed to the 260 dozen bottles of this magnificent wine. The maker is Peter Fraser (Wine Companion 2016 Winemaker of the Year), the viticulturist Michael Lane. They have jointly guided the vineyard to its biodynamic status, and Peter’s approach in the winery is a corollary to that in the vineyard. The bridge between the two is hand-picking, with the berries mechanically sorted (far superior to hand-sorting at this level): 50% crushed, 50% whole berry (no whole-bunch inclusion). The yield varies between 15 and 16t/ha: 1–1.2t/acre. There are no herbicides or fungicides, and tractors are used minimally to reduce soil compaction or degradation. Biodynamic compost and bio preparations help to maintain a living and self-sustaining soil. The wine comes from Block 31 of the vineyard, at once the highest in terms of elevation, the lowest in terms of yield, and the deepest in terms of sand. It seems counterintuitive, but this is wine: quality is its raison d’être. The soil’s free-draining capacity is friend and foe. Vines of all shapes and sizes don’t like waterlogged soils, and the sands mean that problem is avoided. Like Hunter Valley semillon, the old vines develop a root system that penetrates deep and can find reserves of water. Benevolent neglect? Well, there’s more of it in the winery. The grapes endured a five-day cold soak at 10°C in open fermenters, SO2 the only protection. They were plunged during fermentation, but not otherwise, and the pressings were not returned to the wine. Ceramic eggs were not used; the wine was matured on its yeast lees for 11 months in used French oak. Wines from each barrel were tasted before bottling, and only those that best portrayed the pedigree of this tiny but utterly exceptional place were bottled.