Yarra Yering Dry Red Wine No 1 Cabernets
A feature of the Langtons Classification since its 1990 inception, No . 1 remains one of Australias most sought-after Bordeaux style blends. It is principally a Cabernet Sauvignon affair, with Merlot, Malbec and Petit Verdot playing supporting roles. Described as a classic claret-style, it features bright, blackcurrant fruit characters, savoury complexity and fine-grained tannins. Originally made by the late great Dr Bailey Carrodus, this flagship of the Yarra has been in the hands of Sarah Crowe (James Hallidays 2016 Winemaker of the Year) since the 2013 vintage.
Yalumba The Menzies Cabernet Sauvignon
Yalumba continue to produce amazing quality, premium wines for a fraction of the price they could demand. The Menzies is prime example with rich, blackcurrant and cassis fruit with integrated oak that fills the mouth.
Chateau Quintus Grand Cru St-Emilion
Moss Wood Moss Wood Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon
Moss Wood Moss Wood Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Margaret River Moss Wood is one of the Margaret River originals (planted 1969; first vintage 1973) and this iconic flagship wine Langtons Classified since 1990 has long been Western Australias leading Cabernet Sauvignon. Figures from the cellarage company Wine Ark show that it consistently rates as Australias Most Collected Cabernet. Moss Wood Cabernet Sauvignon is intensely perfumed and finely structured with cassis-blackcurrant aromas, hints of cedar and touches of violet. The oak and fruit are neatly balanced. With proven ageing potential the wine develops subtle earth/demi-glace briar characters on the bouquet, and complexity and suppleness on the palate. The unirrigated and widely spaced vineyard (now 14.86-hectares) is planted on gentle north-east facing slopes with sandy loams to a gravelly red/brown loams over clay. Typically the fruit is hand-picked, de-stemmed into open tanks and hand-plunged four times a day until completion of fermentation. At the end of vinification, the wine is allowed to macerate for around 10 to 14 days prior to pressing off into barrel. The wine is matured in 30% new and seasoned French oak barriques for 24 months.
Chateau Duhart-Milon
Hardys Thomas Hardy Cabernet Sauvignon
This brilliant wine is made in honour of Hardy's founding father, Thomas Hardy. He arrived in the Barossa in 1850 and since then, Hardy's have strived to produce wines of the highest quality. This represents the pinnacle of their winemaking and viticulture. a truly spectacular wine of power and finesse.
Chateau Talbot 4me cru classe
Classified as one of ten 4me crus in 1855, Chateau Talbot, in the Saint-Julien appellation, has a distinguished history. Throughout the years, it has been owned by the Governor of Aquitane, the Earl of Shrewsbury and the Marquis of Aux before being acquired by the Cordier family, the fourth generation of which are still in ownership today. Their 2016 Grand Cru is a wine of exceptional personality and charisma, already impressing critics with its silky sweetness and subtle edge. Balanced, crisp, and full of complexity, it is loaded with ageing potential, promising to become something even more prodigious just a few short years from now.
Chateau Trottevieille 1er grand cru classe
CLOS DU MARQUIS Second wine of Chateau Leoville Las-Cases
Established in 1902, Clos du Marquis is the second wine of Ch. Leoville Las-Cases, usually exhibiting typical Saint-Julien structure, complexity, balance, distinction and strong ageing potential. A wine of generous proportions yet pinpoint precision, the word racy has been used more than once to describe the 2016 Clos du Marquis. A richly exotic and expansive palate is centered around a sturdy backbone and exquisite structure resulting in a classically styled wine that will continue to develop with cellaring.
CHATEAU SMITH-HAUT-LAFITTE Rouge Grand cru classe
Dating back over 800 years in the Bordeaux region, Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte is owned today by Daniel and Florence Cathiard. The estate also features a world class spa, which specialises in Vinotherapie - using grape extracts in many of their treatments. Up until the year 2000, the estate was not known for producing top quality wines, however in the capable hands of the Cathiard family and after over a decade of hard work and reinvention, the wines truly began to come into their own. It has been, in the words of Andrew Caillard, an astonishing ascendancy in the past 15 years, and given the sterling reviews the 2016 vintage has received, its trajectory seems set to continue its meteoric rise.