Malbec is renowned for its value in blends but not often found as a varietal. This fine example from Bleasdale is considered a benchmark for the style. Soft, smooth, toasty oak with great depth of complexity.

Lip-smacking, ripe black fruit flavours coat the mouth. Theres a lovely richness to these brightly defined, saturated fruit flavours. Ripe, supple tannins sit in the background and together with the fresh acidity attractively frame the abundant black fruited palate. A clean, fragrant and generously flavoured full bodied red best enjoyed in the full vigour of its youth.

What happens when you combine notes of spice, black pepper and mocha? These are the aromas of Taylors Made Malbec. This red varietal has a well rounded body and deep flavours of black cherry, plum and raspberry.

Chapel Hill The Vinedresser is a true to form McLaren Vale Shiraz. With hints of blueberry and spice and a long, silky finish.

This is definitive McLaren Vale Shiraz rich and generous in flavour with vibrant pepper and spice on the nose and a typically strong hint of dark chocolate.Little Road is estate-grown by a leading McLaren Vale (and Coonawarra) producer and made by veteran, Jimmy Watson Trophy-winning winemaker Paul Gordon, who matured it for 16 months in mainly French (with some American) oak.

Chapel Hill makes great value wines in the maritime climate of McLaren Vale. This Shiraz is a beauty. Dark berries and vanillin oak are evident in the bouquet with spice coming through on the palate.

Utilising the winemaking talents of Larry Cherubino and over 40 years of winemaking experience himself, Robert Oatley lends his name to this McLaren Vale Shiraz that has all the hallmarks of an exceptional regional example. Matured for 10 months in French oak and sourced from fruit from around the sub-region of Blewitt Springs, this Shiraz is opulent, fleshy and textured with flavours of blueberries and spice with a lingering, soft finish.

Some would say McLaren Vale is the spiritual home of Australian Grenache. We are not about to start arguing when Grenache like this one from Chapel Hill are produced. Generous rich red fruits with smattering of dried herbs and a fleshy mid-palate. There is real concentration and complexity to this wine.

Varietal aromas of mint and cassis are well matched with subtle vanillin oak on the nose. The palate is supple and smooth the blackcurrant flavours framed by fine ripe tannins. Try it with roast lamb.

While normally associated with Grenache and Shiraz blends, Mourvèdre recently has begun to stand on its own two feet as a stand-alone wine. Quite evocative in nature, Chapel Hill's Mourvèdre is a dark and brooding red with wonderful hints of spice and violet tones. Walking the line between medium and full-bodied, this wouldn't be out of place next to either a thick cut steak or a plate of picked Mediterranean vegetables.

Chapel Hill's Cabernet Sauvignon is a superb McLaren Vale wine which rivals others well beyond its price range. Generous blackcurrant, dark cherries, cedar and spice mixed in with fine, firm tannins. This wine can be enjoyed now but will continue to improve with a few years in the cellar.