Rich and spicy. Blackberry, dark chocolate, star anise, stewed plum. Decadent forest fruits, sweet spices, fine toasty oak, fine mouth coating soft tannins.

The St Andrews Cabernet from Taylors has fine tannins and opulent cassis and fresh blackberry fruit are combined with cedar oak notes that make for a lovely drinking wine for now or something for the medium term section of your cellar.

While the establishment date of Arrivo is 1998, when Peter Godden and partner Sally McGill established a nursery block of 35 vines of nebbiolo, the inspiration goes back to 1995 and '96, when Peter spent much time in Barolo, Italy, working the '96 vintage at leading producer Vietti.Now with plantings of around 1 hectare of nebbiolo, Peter uses a unique trellis and training system derived from Barolo, but with an Australian twist. Not only is the trellis complicated and unique, but so are the amazingly complicated fermentation techniques being used.The resulting wines are a benchmark for Australian nebbiolo.

One of the benchmark wines to come out of the Coonawarra, the Penfolds Bin 128 is a delightful cool-climate shiraz. Matured in French Oak, with flavours of white pepper and floral spice, the 2014 Bin 128 is a rich and full-bodied Shiraz.

Made from low yielding vineyards at Moonambel in the Pyreness district of central Victoria, Dalwhinnie is an example of how good Victorian Shiraz can be. Tremendous depth of flavour running the gammet from red currants to dark plums, spice and mineral. The plentiful tannins are absorbed by the fruit and the finish is long and lingering.

A complex array of melon fig and cashew aromas is followed by a typically elegant and subtle palate with beautifully integrated oak. Petaluma had set a benchmark in Australian Chardonnay.

Rated 97 Halliday points. "Deep crimson-purple; whereas the '11 had to fight every inch of the way, this wine displays almost contemptuous ease in the way it has marshalled the layers of black fruits and ripe tannins that soak up the new oak inputs. This will be one of the long-lived, great Black Labels." James Halliday Wine Companion, July 2015.

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.

Tyrrell's Vat 8 is the archetypal blend of tradition and modernity. With a strong history in both the Hunter Valley and Hilltops regions, Tyrrell's are able to showcase the very best in modern Australian winemaking. The Vat 8 consists of a majority Hunter Valley Shiraz the lends beauty, flavour and ripeness and a small parcel of Hilltops Cabernet which supports the Shiraz with power and structure. Elegant and pristine early, this is a wine that will enjoy some time in the cellar to further develop it already obvious complexity.

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.