The fruit for the 2016 Vat 9 Shiraz was sourced from Tyrrells super premium vineyards on the Ashmans property with an average vine age of 50 years. Predominately from the Weinkeller and Short Flat vineyards. Winemaking The blocks were all hand picked and sorted in the vineyard before arriving at the winery. All the fruit was then destemmed but not crushed, followed by fermentation in traditional open top concrete vats. After fermentation the wiens were matured in newer 2700L French oak casks for ten months.

Katnook Prodigy Shiraz is a wonderful example of great Coonawarra Shiraz. Savoury spice and dark berry fruits with a hint of white pepper. An elegant wine with medium intensity and great length. Amazingly concentrated for current drinking, the Prodigy will benefit for over decade in the cellar.

This wonderfully elegant Shiraz shows intense, pristine, blackberry fruit and ripe, silky tannins. It almost has a Pinot Noir elegance to it and, luckily, the quality of future vintages will only be getting better too as Voyager's new clones come on line.

Colour is deep red. The nose shows aniseed, tar, FruChocs and spicy oak. The fine palate entry has mulberry, cranberry, aniseed and liquorice flowing delicately with Rhone-like spicy, chewy, savoury tannins.

Taylors St Andrews Shiraz from the Clare Valley is a classic and is consistently a show-stopper. The bouquet shows rich plum and cherry fruit with earthy spice and the palate is perfectly balanced with soft silky tannins.

This is a truly wonderful example of the Octavius. Rising from the glass is a tangle of violets, raspberry, spice and vanilla, drawing the taster towards a palate saturated in raspberry, blackberry, liquorice allsorts and star anise. On the verge of greatness, it should be drunk between 2011 - 2014.

Old, extremely low-yielding McLaren Vale vines are responsible for d'Arenberg's Dead Arm Shiraz - a wine of enormous power, intensity and real complexity - an absolute must for any serious wine cellar and d'Arenberg lover. One of the flagships for McLaren Vale for many years, this wine continues to shine with a balanced between tradition and Chester Osborne driven innovation.

One of the benchmarks of Barossa Shiraz, Peter Lehmann's Stonewell is a classic example of the rich concentrated old vine style. While bold on the palate, there is always an inherent complexity to the Stonewell that enables it to be compared with all of the great Australian wines produced today.

Coming from one of the best vintages in recent Barossa history, the Old Block from St Hallett shows what careful vineyard management can do for a wine. Rich, dark and conerntrated but with seamless tannin intergration.

The Penfolds Bin 150 Marananga Shiraz is a relatively new addition to the Penfolds stable, sourced from the Barossan sub-district, Marananga. Simply a revelation, this wine is an inky, black beast in the glass with lashings of dark chocolate and coffee accented fruit, yet this years offering shows a lingering, soft structured finish that will see the wine cellar very nicely.

First Creek are really winning over a lot of new fans, especially wine drinkers who may have previously not given the Hunter Valley its fair dues. In the glass: Deep garnet to purple. On the nose: Black and blueberry fruit, and spice. On the palate: Medium to full-bodied with luscious texture and soft tannins. Showing black cherry, blueberry and vanilla alongside red liquorice notes. Long and moreish.