USA, Northern California, Napa Valley: 2016 & 2017 – A Tale of Two Vintages The deep purple-black colored 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Speciale (100% Cabernet Sauvignon) sings of fresh blackcurrants, warm plums, mulberries and black raspberries with touches of cedar chest, pencil lead, underbrush and sautéed herbs. Full-bodied and laden with black fruits and earth layers, it has a grainy structure and a long, earthy finish.

Arrowood's Smothers-Remick Cabernet from the stellar 2013 vintage is a tour de force reminiscent of the early days when winemaker Richard Arrowood routinely cranked out stunning wines. This beauty is among the finest Cabs ever produced at Arrowood, a silky, voluptuous red that shows notes of cassis and blackberry with a hint of cedar and graphite. The tannins are ample but seamless, and the wine exhibits impressive depth and length. While drinking beautifully now, this is a wine to hold for those who have good wine storage and even better patience. Drink now or over the next 20 to 25 years.

Made from the estate's finest fruit and aged 23 or more months in a combination of French and American oak, it comes from multiple sources in Sonoma, including the Monte Rosso Vineyard. A wine of great stature and richness, it boasts an inky/ruby/purple color along with a stunning bouquet of loamy, dusty soil, lead pencil shavings, creme de cassis, kirsch liqueur, licorice and barrique smells. Full-bodied and opulent, with some tannin still to be shed, it is a classic, All-American style of northern California Cabernet Sauvignon that is approaching middle adolescence. It has another 20-25 years of life left. Bravo!

The 2008 Arcanum is a monumental achievement and my favorite wine in an already impossibly impressive collection. The blend sees Cabernet Franc (77%), Merlot and a very small part of Cabernet Sauvignon. Like many Tuscany growers, Tenuta di Arceno is betting on Cabernet Franc's performance in the warmer corners of Tuscany. The integration here is absolutely beautiful and the wine glides smoothly over the palate with the perfect balance of extraction, glycerin, residual sugar and acidity. The aromas span the spectrum, from bright cherry to dark chocolate. Anticipated maturity: 2016-2030.

USA, Northern California, Napa Valley: 2016 & 2017 – A Tale of Two Vintages The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Helena Montana Vineyard (100% Cabernet Sauvignon) comes from a vineyard that contains more volcanic rock. Deep purple-black in color, it reveals slightly tarry notes to begin, soon opening out to beautiful black cherry, black berry and warm cassis scents with hints of cigar box, charcuterie, licorice and Indian spices. The palate is medium to full-bodied, with a rock-solid frame of grainy tannins and wonderful freshness supporting the densely packed earth layers, finishing very long and savory. This needs time!

Very deep purple-black in color, the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Helena Montana Vineyard gives up notes of coffee grounds, chocolate box and warm blueberries with hints of black currant cordial and blackberry pie, plus touches of tar and black soil. Medium-bodied and totally laden with tightly packed fruit layers and great tension, it has a very firm frame of grainy tannins and epic length.

The 2012s are the most showy and forward of the three vintages, which is not surprising, since the vintage is flamboyant and they are already three years of age. Even as impressive, but showing more truffles, charcoal, graphite and camphor, along with blackberry and cassis, is the 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Helena Dakota (1,017 cases). This wine shows even more fruit than its sibling and is bigger, bolder and slightly broader across the palate. All these wine are highly recommended and are brilliant efforts, but will probably need coaxing and patience in the cellar, given their rather bigger-than-life styles and richness.

This is stylish, with currants, blackberries, mulberries, and cool spices, with cloves developing in the glass. Full bodied, with super integrated tannins and a long, long finish. This is complex and integrated. A very beautiful wine. Why wait? Pull the cork.

Also remarkable is the 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Helena Dakota, which Seillan told me was from a slightly cooler site with red soil. It is always a wine that shows more chocolate and mocha, but still lots of fat, flesh and blackcurrant fruit. Full-bodied, and from a slightly lower elevation than the Helena Montana, this wine should drink well for another 15 or more years.

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 be an issue, all you have to do is watch its triumphal march over the years in your cellar.

Wine of the Week AU Produced from old-vine, dry-grown grenache vines, fermented slowly in a ceramic egg. It is a concentrated, elegant grenache with high-toned aromatics of raspberry, redcurrant and dried cherry, with underlying savouriness enhancing its charm. The palate is youthful, yet approachable, with a long, fine core of acidity. It is a mesmerising grenache showing intense flavours within a refined frame. Amazing persistence and stylish tannin. (Screwcap)

70yo vines, hand-picked, 100% destemmed, 50% crushed, fermented in two 675l ceramic eggs, remaining on skins post fermentation for 140 days, no oak maturation. Peter Fraser says he can't explain why eggs perform as they do, and (of course) nor can I. But I am sure you could not bypass oak in favour of stainless steel tanks. The eggs give the wine texture akin to tight-grain oak, and no reduced characters whatsoever.

Bush vine grenache, planted 1946. Hand picked, wild fermented, 50% whole berries, cold soaked, open fermenters, matured in French oak but none of it was new. Certified organic/biodynamic. A remarkable wine. Sheer fruit power, lakes of tannin, character in spades. Game, black cherry, saltbush, gum leaves and pure fresh plum. Tight through the finish, almost too much so, but as it ages it will unfurl and expand. Serious grenache. Imposing.

Australia has some of the most extraordinary old grenache vines in the world and they lead to wines like this—gorgeously rich and tasting of cherry confiture and exotic spices. “High Sands” (which has a cult following) is grown at the top of the Yangarra Estate on ancient sandy dunes. The gnarly old bush vines were planted in 1946.

From Yangarra's highest blocks of 1946 bush vines, planted on soils so sandy they resemble a beach, this biodynamic Grenache is remarkably complex and ageworthy. Driven by minerals, the hot stone and iodine aromas weave seamlessly into softer ones like drying violets, crunchy red fruits, ground pepper and a basket of freshly picked herbs from the garden. The palate has focus, structure and finesse, the signature of a sensitive and highly experienced winemaker (Pete Fraser). Tannins are chalky and fine, pinning in the crunchy high-toned fruit, corset-like, and allowing more terroirs-driven elements to shine through. A berry and wild herb finish lingers on the close.

Think Blewitt Springs Grenache and expect pretty, bright red fruit. Oh, this rattles the cage on that theory. I'll unashamedly admit this is the best Grenache I have ever seen come across my bench. It's pristine but a bit rustic all at the same time. It's tight yet doesn't come across tense. Dark berries and fruit are pinned together by measured minerality and dusty feels in the mouth. Grown in sand which runs two metres deep, these bush vines produce only five to six bunches each. I felt an air of calmness as I walked this vineyard with winemaker Peter Fraser only a month ago - a sacred site in Australia's wine history planted back in 1946. No irrigation, grown organically and biodynamically, there's so much to savour with this wine. Brilliant! This well cellar well beyond a decade.

This was my top wine from our recent regional McLaren Vale tasting. Tasted nearly 100 wines over one and a half days, blind. This one leapt out. Peppery, bunchy, spicy, raspberry, perfumed. Light to medium bodied, spicy and frisky, cool acidity, dry chalky mineral tannin, savoury and long. Great wine

The fruit comes into play early, and continues its dominance through the length of the palate, its juicy red berry/compote fruits not letting the ever-present tannins gain control. Whether its the eggs or the fruit, it has more overall power.

Plush and juicy with a floral nose; pure and rich; balanced and mellow with depth and concentrated fruit; a spectacular rendition of an underappreciated variety.

Highest of the High-Priced The Top Ten Wines over $100 in 2018 (So Far) Floral nose; luscious, pure, and balanced; rich with depth and concentrated fruit. A dramatic demonstration of the potential of this underrated variety.

271 cases. 210 meters above sea level. 1946 planting. Only old oak. 50% whole bunch. The 2012 was very easy to judge in the glass, while this 2013 took a while to get my head around. As an aside, a Nebbiolo/Burgundy glass ended up being the best vessel for delivery of this wine. Needs a decant or plenty of air, if you open one now. Very earthy, peppery and spicy, boot polish, Old Jamaica chocolate, dried roses, raspberry, cherries, dried mint - so much going on! Medium bodied, deeply fruited, tannic, but in a very silky way (likely that will make sense should you taste it). Plush raspberry flavour, meat and spices, fresh acidity, distinct 'mineral' feel. Long and almost blackcurranty in the aftertaste, with a trail of fine silty tannin. A vin de garde; feels unevolved and painfully young at present. Challenging. I thought about it. And thought some more. Drank some. Then drank some more. And in the end? A conclusion and a score.

160 dozen made from the highest section of 1946 bush vine Grenache. No new oak. I like that they are making a statement about Grenache with the pricing. This is a seriously good wine from sniff to swallow. Great depth of fruit here (raspberry and sour cherry mainly), sweet spices and earth, dried roses, all manner of layered aromatic complexity. Medium bodied, again the flood of deep ripe fruit that's pure and fresh, rather than sweet or over-ripe. Acidity is firm, kind of like biting into fresh raspberry, and the tannin is pretty strict and dry, but gives the wine a forceful slaty texture and drives it along beautifully. Great wines have great length, and this is no exception. It's a remarkable wine.

A very profoundly intense nose with immense fragrance and spice, darker brambly berry fruits and an almost chalky mineral edge. The palate has a very strong core of sturdy tannin, deep-set dark berry fruit flavors heads into dark cherry and plum territory. Tight, long and powerful.

The bottle, the cork, (indifferent) and the price all have the Us written on them, but this is in fact a seriously good grenache, with great colour and mouthfeel to its perfectly ripened, deep and luscious fruit.

A rare mix of power and restraint. Perfectly ripe, bright, concentrated fruit in the red cherry, raspberry and red plum sphere. The palate is captivating with its plush, supple, velvety nature. All of the elements are perfectly integrated. Certified organic and biodynamic. Highly recommended.