McLaren Vale is home to some of Australia's biggest reds and here's a prize example from the bestselling 'Black Pig' - a cassis-rich Cabernet with wall-to-wall black cherry and bramble tones and a delicious lick of menthol.

Deep ruby red with a lovely youthful violet hue. A fragrant nose of fresh blueberries, a little vanillin, mixed spice, cedar and a floral hint of perfumed violets. Approachable, graceful palate of mulberry and blueberry compote. Up front, juicy flesh of plum with underlying notes of chocolate coated coffee beans, mint, black pepper, and a hint of earthy truffles. A solid backbone of supporting acidity extends these characters towards the finish.

A Shiraz for the big boys, fresh red currants and blueberries leap from the glass and are interwoven with violets and spice. The palate is rich in juicy raspberries; blueberries and spice fill the mouth and are supported by bright acid and silky tannins. The finish is fleshy, juicy and plush with wonderful medium bodied balance and style.

Traditional winemaking techniques and an eye to modern styles allow us to create wines that are synonymous with the regions they are from. Rich, honest wines that showcase the regions in their most natural light. The wine is dark red in colour with a medley of aromas od dark cherry, mulberry and ripe raspberries. The palate shows ripe raspberry and cranberry fruits with silky tannins which give length and finesse while finishing soft and full of flavour. This wine can be enjoyed now but will also improve with careful cellaring.

Sisters Run is an independently owned and operated winery with a fierce commitment to make the best wines from family vineyards. The label pays reference to talented young winemaker Elena Brooks who wears steel cap boots in the day but carries a pair of high heels in the back of the ute, just in case of emergencies. Lovely aromas of red berries mingle delightfully with spice and black pepper notes. The palate is dry, medium-full bodied and amply rewards the promise of the nose. Suggestions of spice, plus red and black fruit, with a crisp acidity and appropriate tannins keeping everything balanced through the end of the long and tangy finish.

Bernoota was the original name of the Lake Breeze homestead and now the Bernoota Shiraz Cabernet is rightfully considered to be one of Australia's favourite Shiraz Cabernet blends. And they don't come much better than Bernoota for the price! Not only is it rich and luscious, filled with blackcurrant, spice and pepper, it has a touch of dark chocolate on the finish. The 2009 is a 60% Shiraz and 40% Cabernet blend and spends 20 months in a mixture of French and American Oak that will see the wine not only be enjoyable now, but develop beautifully in the bottle for a further 8 to 10 years.

When you open a Blackstrap, you know you’re heading into seriously dark, rich, red territory. It’s from McLaren Vale, so it shows all that inky, chocolatey, deep black fruit richness the region is known for. A good dose of oak tempers the richness, and fine tannins smooth it out even further, so it’s drinking well now. But it’s definitely an ultra-velvety, mouthcoating, lipstaining, rich and powerful red that you need to approach carefully!

One of our most popular customers picks here at first Choice. Church Block was the first wine the late Greg Trott produced under the Wirra Wirra label back in 1972. He took the name from one of the original vineyards, which runs next to the small Bethany Church (Est 1854) across the road from Wirra Wirras century old ironstone cellars. The wine is a blend of 50% cabernet with 37% shiraz and 13% merlot delivering vibrant colour then true cabernet blackberry and cassis aromas and dominant flavour as well, while the rest of the varietal makeup adds a sweeter fruit-cored palate, full with bright red energy and comforting, easy drinking textures. Enjoy with Beef, mushroom and red wine pie.

Using grapes sourced from a range of McLaren Vale’s finest vineyards, this full-bodied and rich cabernet is elegant, with notes of black cherry and plum, and a lovely length and structure. This wine is intensely bright, floral and fragrant on the nose with lovely length on the palate. A soft, flavoursome and well balanced cabernet with fine grained tannins on the finish.