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.

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.

This wine is the flagship of Domaine A and is only produced in vintages of exceptionally high standard. The bouquet shows classic Cabernet varietal aromas and the palate is long and concentrated.

Made only in the best years, this wine is concentrated and intense. Powerful yet elegant, it has fine and silky tannins and a long finish. This wine is delicious now and will age beautifully for the next 10 years.

Xanadu Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon is vibrant and robust with great balance from the bouquet of ripe forest fruits and violet on the nose; A refined structure of tannins, oak use and the acidity on the palate; All are great indications of a wine that would benefit from careful bottle maturation for many years to come.

Giant Steps is a complex Pinot Noir with terrific varietal character. The nose shows rose petal, dark cherry and tomato leaf aromas and the palate is fleshy but tight, with savoury, dusty notes and silky tannins.

Yering Station Reserve wines are produced only in years of outstanding quality. The Shiraz Viognier is co fermented, made up of 95% Shiraz and 5% Viognier. A wonderful vintage in 2012 where fruit was able to ripen to maturity in cool conditions

A unique blend of six Portuguese varieties, Touriga Nacional Tinta Cao, Tinta Amarela, Alvarelhao, Roriz and Sousao, all planted in a natural amphitheatre at the highest and most southerly point of the Yarra Yering vineyard.

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.