The best

• red wine
• white wine
• champagne
• rosé
• whisky
• spirits
• beer

deals in Australia

Dark dense amber. The nose is of dried figs, hazelnut, orange candy and prunes. The aromatics continue with cocoa, vanilla cream and smokey oak from over four decades in small oak. The palate is endlessly complex. Chocolate truffles, hazelnut, prune, almond and cigarbox tobacco. The 40 Year Old Grand Reserve continues to linger long after first sipped.

Chateau de Beaucastel Hommage à Jacques Perrin is a monumental wine, made only in top vintages. The wine was first produced in 1989 as a tribute to Jacques Perrin, who died in 1978. Atypical for Chateauneuf-du Pape, the Hommage is a Mourvèdre dominant blend sourced from low-yielding old vines. Deeply concentrated and powerful, it possesses immense capacity to age.

Powell & Son Steinert Flaxmans Shiraz, Eden Valley Powell & Son (first vintage 2014) is the venture of Barossa Valley legend Dave Powell and his son Callum. The Steinert vineyard is located in the hills of the Eden Valleys Flaxmans Valley and is home to some of the most prized vines of the Barossa -- dry-grown, rod and spur pruned, and planted before the turn of the 19th century. The 2ha vineyard faces north-east on dark quartzitic loam soils at 480m. The vines experience a long, cool ripening period, producing fruit with outstanding accumulation of complex flavours and elegant, powerful tannins. Fruit is hand-picked in three separate passes and fermented traditional open-top concrete vats and pump overs. The wine is then racked and basket-pressed for gentle extraction of tannin, then transferred to new Dominique Laurent barriques for natural malolactic fermentation followed by 18 months maturation before bottling without fining or filtration. The Steinerts complex perfume combines dried herbs and spices, lifted florals, dark cherries, red currants, charcuterie meats and wood-smoke. The palate is supple, framed by fine-grained tannins and typically offers dark fruits with thyme, lavender, cedar and cloves, finishing with plentiful soft, powdery tannins.

DOMINIO DEL AGUILA Canta la Perdiz , Ribera del Duero

The Hoffmann Vineyard Shiraz is a tête de cuvée (literally ‘head of the blend’) style. Key parts of the vineyard, with vines between 60 and 100 years old, are picked at different stages of ripeness, resulting in five separate two-tonne grape parcels ultimately filling 20 barrels. The final wine is a selection of the best four barrels. The annual make will never exceed 200 dozen. It’s an ‘essence-of-Shiraz’ style – uncompromisingly rich and concentrated. The first vintage was 2006 and the wine has begun building a track record that will inevitably match that of the Barossa Ranges wine. Right now, you need to decant it 12 hours (or more) before serving to allow the fruit to come to the fore.

Château Tertre Roteboeuf may have a quirky sounding name that at first has no connection to grand wines of Saint-Émilion, yet the wines produced here of utmost elegance, purity and not surprising for Saint-Émilion, plushness. With the blend consisting of Merlot and Cabernet Franc, Roteboeuf's wines are smooth, voluptuous and with tannins that are attractively loose-knit. The 1990 is a vintage for the ages and has proven to be one of the great cellaring vintages as well. Already 20 years in the bottle has not turned down the volume on this remarkable right bank Bordeaux.

M. CHAPOUTIER Ermitage Le Pavillon, Hermitage Rare and highly sought-after, M.Chapoutiers brooding Ermitage Le Pavillon comes from a parcel of vines anchored on the granite soils of the Bessard commune lower down on the Hill of Hermitage. Le Pavillon refers to the ruins of an old stone-house located just below the vineyard on the famous Hill. The Syrah grapes are hand-harvested and entirely destemmed before undergoing vinification in concrete tanks. Following an extended maceration the wine is matured in a mix of approximately 30% new and 70% seasoned French oak casks for 18-20 months.

Chateau Haut Brion is one of the five first Growths of the 1855 Classification of the Medoc. The Chateau was established in 1533 by Jean de Pontac, who was the first to plant vineyards on this prime gravelly site, found in the Graves sub-region of Pessac Leognan. The Chateau is owned today by Prince Robert of Luxembourg, the great grandson of Clarence Dillon. It is planted to Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, with three hectares planted to the white varieties of Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc. Chateau Haut Brion is the only property outside of the Medoc in the 1855 classification. A wine of class and breed, Chateau Haut Brion is typically more approachable in its youth, showing floral perfume and elegance, yet possesses the structure required for exceptional longevity.

One of the most famous - as well as one of the most expensive - wines in the world, Chateau Lafite Rothschilds history dates back to 1235, by which time, it is believed, the vines were already planted and thriving. Nearly 1,000 years later it still retains the name of its then-owner Gombaud de Lafite. It wasnt until 1868 that the Rothschilds came to become the Chateaus owners, after it was sold at public auction in Paris - and it remains in their hands today. Producing an elegant Paulliac wine, Chateau Lafite is renowned for its characteristic blend of rich dark fruit with spicy, savoury and earthy notes of cassis, tobacco, and truffle. The 2016 earned sterling reviews, with James Suckling scoring it a perfect 100 and speculating on its standing as Perhaps the greatest Lafite since the legendary 1959.

Château la Mission Haut-Brion is on uniquely stony soil in the Pessac-Léognan appellation close to the city of Bordeaux. It is a Cru Classé in the Graves Classification of 1953. The 22.5 hectare red wine vineyard is planted to Cabernet Sauvignon (46%), Merlot (44%) and Cabernet Franc (10%). The chateau wine is vinified in large (180hl) temperature-controlled, stainless steel vats and aged in 100% new French oak for an average of 22 months. Annual production is 6000-7000 dozen. The famous white wine of the chateau comes from 3.5 ha planted to Semillon (62%) and Sauvignon Blanc (38%). Overall planting density is 10,000 vines per hectare (red) and 8000 vines per hectare (white). Since 1983, under the ownership of Domaine Clarence Dillon (which also owns the neighbouring Chateau Haut Brion), the entire estate has been renovated vineyards, winemaking facilities and the chateau itself. The property got its name in the 1600s when it was owned by the Catholic Church.