A relatively new addition to the Taylors range, the Jaraman Cabernet Sauvignon is part of a range that includes some of the best in the Taylors lineup of fine wines. Elegant with intense fruit flavours of cherry and cassis along with hints of mint, cedar and spice.

The wine displays a complex aroma of lifted violets, red berries and mint with lovely cedary oak. The palate is brimming with rich plums, blackberries and subtle chocolate and earthy notes. The intense flavour is balanced by fine sandy tannins and spicy vanillin oak.

A delicious modern Australian version of an old world classic. This is a full bodied wine with complex layers of flavour. At its core is rich blackcurrant, and dark cherry, beautifully melding with dark chocolate and hints of charry oak with supple underlying tannins. Overall a very generous, balanced and most enjoyable wine.

The wine has an aroma of rich blackcurrant, subtle star anise spice and a touch of eucalypt. French oak maturation is also evident with subtle aromas of cedar and chocolate. A wine of great intensity. It has distinctive blackcurrant and cassis fruit flavours. Subtle oak characters of cedar and spice are also evident. The tannins are fine and elegant a hallmark of the varietal. The palate is well balanced, complex and fulfilling and lingers on the finish.

Clare Valley cabernet is vastly underrated at all ends of the price spectrum. For this money, Kilikanoon have (yet again) delivered an absolute titanic effort. It’s bright and lively the moment it hits the palate, sizzling with fruit flavour and life. Then, as you settle in for the ride, come savoury tones of spice and herbs, followed by a long, luxurious finish. It’s still young, so it’s all about the bright fruit at the moment, but there’s so much potential for ageing that it’s almost scary when you consider the value on offer here. That said, it’s massively enjoyable right now. Give it a spell in the decanter if you’re afraid of getting stuck in straight away. But, you can probably tell from my enthusiasm that I was far from put off by this young wine, and not a word of anything but praise was uttered around the tasting bench by my fellow mofos.

This is the flagship Cabernet of the Jim Barry stable. Ripe black fruits combined with a beautifully distinct earth, leather aromas with hints of dried fruits and sweet mulch.

This Cabernet Sauvignon gives pronounced flavours of chocolate, red berries and black cherry skins with echoes of light tobacco and bramble on the finish.

More lifted than its Coonawarra cousins, the Leasingham Classic Clare Cabernet has concentrated characters of blackcurrant, cooking spice and Old Gold chocolate. A standout of the Clare Valley.