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Concentrated and intense yet built in an elegant framework. Grenache provides beautiful lifted sappy red fruits with floral accents, Shiraz provides mid-palate richness with some spicy overtones and Mataro rounds out the blend providing structure and savoury meatiness.

The Butchers Block is a traditional Barossa blend made with grapes selected from the Turkey Flat vineyards, including some from the original old vine plantings. It is a blend of Shiraz, Grenache and Mourvédre (Mataro). 'Part of the grapes come from the home vineyard that has some of the oldest vines in the Barossa, planted by Peter Schulz's great-grandfather Ernest Schulz. The wine has the drive, focus and intensity often missing from this Barossa blend; that said, there are both black and distinctly red fruit components, and the tannins are firm. Give it 10 years, then line it up with a top Rhone Valley example. Outrageous value' - Rating 94/100. - James Halliday.

A delicious example of this gamay-based light red from southern Burgundy. Raspberry and plum aromas are direct and fruity, and the palate is light with a lingering, fragrant aftertaste.

There is plenty of flavour here - raisins, toffee, liquorice - in this soft, smooth and sweet fortified. Satisfying and well priced.

Alsace is in the far north-eastern corner of France and is noted for its excellent white wines. It is the only AOC region in France that is allowed to produce wines designated by the name of the grape variety from which they are produced. During the 18th and 19th centuries, the Hugel family gained an enviable reputation for their winegrowing skills and for the meticulous way in which they cultivated their vineyards. While it's typical for one of the wine world's most northern climates to produce vintages of distinct character, the latest stands out, delivering some of the lowest yields in the last 30 years, extremely high acidity levels and healthy fruit harvested at high ripeness levels. The bouquet is very aromatic with white peach, fresh almond, green apple and floral notes. The wine is dry on the palate, fresh and well balanced, with a supple finish.

A new year means new adventures, so head into your local Vintage Cellars store and venture to Italy, where the wines are as delightful and captivating as the magnificent scenery. New at Vintage Cellars is Maretti Langhe Rosso from Piedmont Italy. Sourced from grapes growing in the foothills of the Alps in the north-west of Italy, this full-bodied red is a blend of the extremely long-lived and acclaimed nebbiolo variety and barbera, the most widely planted and popular variety of the region, due to its fruit driven expressiveness and youthful approachability. This complex wine is the perfect introduction to this inspiring wine region.

Intriguing aromas of rose petals and a summer pudding of lifted red fruits, berries and a hit of cinnamon and Asian spice. The palate is opulent, with intense red berries balanced by soft velvety tannins and supple oak with great balance from the acid reknown in Barossa Grenache. 'The cold, wet 2011 vintage hit the Barossa Valley particularly hard, wiping out huge tracts of vineyards. Dandelion's blend, then, came as a delightful surprise a tender, juicy, seductive drop that made the bottle seem too small. It's a blend of grenache (85 per cent), shiraz (10 per cent) and mataro (aka mourvedre or monastrell). The back label hints at how winemaker Elena Brooks and the Dandelion crew saved the day, "handpicking selected bunches" (that is, avoiding the rotten ones) of the three varieties for co-fermentation and ultimate success. What a moreish wine this is'. - Canberra Times, 15 May 2013, by Chris Shanahan.

This Estate was created in 1960, at the place known as Crès Ricards, in the village of Ceyras. In 2010 Jean-Claude Mas acquired the 27 ha (69 acres) belonging to the Château, extending the estate to 42 ha in 2013. He was fascinated by the fantastic terroir of the Terrasses du Larzac, which produces silky wines with intense flavors. At the foot of Mont Baudile, 35 km to the west of Montpellier, this vineyard offers a unique geography. Yields are low because of the strict grape selection and carbonic maceration is used to produce generous wines. Made from 70% Syrah and 30% Grenache and matured in new and older French oak for 10 months. The wine is at once full bodied and fresh, with notes of intense black currant, black cherry and mocha gliding to a silky, rich finish.