Tintara from South Australia's McLaren Vale represents both history and innovation in McLaren Vale. With a heritage that dates back to 1861 and with a vision to produce contemporary wines, the result are red wines like this Tintara Cabernet Sauvignon. Full of life and vigour with the typical regional chocolate and mocha characters, this McLaren Vale Cab is a perfect little cellar starter or great paired with lamb shanks.

A recent addition to the Petaluma stable, the Petaluma of Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon is a great example of modern Australian winemaking when let to mingle with traditional wine estate and aged vineyards. Notes of dark chocolate, mocha, espresso and forest floor sit alongside bold blackcurrant fruit and cedar nuances. The finish is long and sustained.

The Langmeil Blacksmith Cabernet Sauvignon is all about varietal definition. Blackcurrant, blueberries as well as herbaceousness and briary spice, plus a couple of years in good French oak to help drinkability as a youngster.

The Eden Valley altitudes were always going to be the source for Kym Teusner's grand Cabernet statement. The fruit is awesome beyond belief, and it shows in this ridiculously underpriced masterstroke. An entitled mouthful of dark currants and blue fruits have a lasting depth all their own, wrapped in a precision poised tannin structure with grip and presence, yet silky throughout. Could be rookie of the year!

The Bethany Cabernet Merlot from the Schrapel family's Bethany winery exhibits herbal blackberry and cherry flavours with subtle oak in the background. Drinking well now, but also can handle a little bit of medium term cellaring to really coax those soft, ripe tannins to infuse beautifully with its primary fruit.

From the highly regarded wine making team at Pierro comes this more than worthy second label. Expressive red berry characters on the nose are intermingled with nuances of blood plum, and on the palate these flavours are underpinned by subtle oak.

From one of Margaret River's best and original producers, Vasse Felix comes this excellent Cabernet Merlot blend has great concentration of blackcurrant fruit with cedary oak and fine tannins - a style with elegance and finesse rather than power.

Serafino is the winery behind industry icon, Steve Maglieri. Arriving in McLaren Vale in 1968, Steve embarked on a career that has seen his wines win multiple awards across the world. His Cabernet Sauvignon contains fruit that is hand selected from multiple vineyard sites throughout McLaren Vale to deliver a wine that is full-bodied and full of richness. Copious amounts of blackcurrant and blueberry fruit await with supreme textural oak balancing the opulence.

Te Mata make some sublime Bordeaux style red wines and we've been blessed in recent years with some outstanding vintages. This years release has wonderful floral aromas with intense blackberry, currant and dark plum flavours lead to a rich supple palate with a sustained finish.