Two words come to mind when you mention great Australian Merlot. Jim Irivne. Jim's Grand Merlot is the benchmark of complex and elegant Merlot in Australia and his Eden Valley vineyards are the perfect place to produce this iconic wine.

Stonier are the pioneers of the premium region that is the Mornington Peninsula. This outstanding Pinot Noir displays pure elegance and complexity. Dark cherry fruit flavours are balanced by gamey undertones and a savoury finish.

From a 37-acre vineyard, Château Pavie Macquin is stunningly situated on the clay-limestone plateau of Saint-Émilion on the right bank of Bordeaux. 2010 has produced a formidable wine: a blend of 70% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, this is a top release of the harvest year and a highlight from St-Émillion in 2010. Tannins, restraint and inward concentration are motifs, this is a wine for the patient, sophisticated collector who wishes to embellish a cellar with pedigree wines that need time and maturity to come to the fore.

Margaret River icons, Leeuwin Estate, have produced a wine of true class here. A great finish to the vintage shows up here with aromas of cassis, redcurrant and chocolate. Sweet ripe fruit on the palate is well matched with toasty French oak and fine tannin.

This Katherines Paddock Chardonnay combines the richness, drive and classicism of one clone with the fine-boned flinty structure and chalky notes of the other. It is stylish with the modern expression of Australian style Chardonnay: tense, taut and sulphidic. It reclaims the middle ground where body, flavour and palate weight co-exist with structure, texture and restrained acidity. This single-vineyard Chardonnay has well integrated natural acidity with rich varietal expression.

Bright medium red with purple hue in colour; On the nose: pronounced Blackcurrant, crushed wet leaves and dark plums, bouquet of wild violet and a decent amount of almost wet tobacco oak. A full bodied wine that has great length on the palate with firm but refined tannins. Simply outstanding in its class.

Wynns John Riddoch Cabernet Sauvignon is the icon Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon. Named after Coonawarra pioneer, pastoralist and parliamentarian, John Riddoch, this Cabernet Sauvignon is sourced from the very best of Wynns vast planting in Coonawarra and it only made in the years that best express Wynns strive for excellence. Arguably richer and more complex from comparable styles in the region, John Riddoch Cabernet is highly sought after and extremely limited.

Oakridge 864 Pinot Noir is a true single vineyard expression of Pinot Noir by one of the Yarra Valley's premier producers. A nose of dark cherry and plum greets you followed by a palate that is both concentrated and dense. Fruit flavours of framboise, dark cherry and forest floor carry off a truly remarkable Pinot.