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One of the Margaret River's more celebrated producers, Howard Park have forged a healthy cult following. The 2001 Cabernet Blend is a full bodied red that has developed liquorice and humidor characters beneath a layers of concentrated blackberry.

The Malleea (an aboriginal word for 'green paddock') is a very fine exapmle of the classic Australian Cabernet/Shiraz blend. The 2008 is rich, dark magenta in colour, with ripe plums, spice and vanillin oak on the nose. The palate is like a complex fruit cake with layers of fresh berries, black olives and hints of chocolate.

Katnook are synonymous with premium quality Cabernet from Coonawarra and this brilliant wine stands up against any great Cabernet in the world. Aged for 35 month in French oak, the aromas and flavours of dark berries and spicy plum are beautifully interwoven with mulberry. Will age for 10 - 20 years with ease.

La Dame de Montrose, first vintage 1983, is the highly-regarded second wine of Chateau Montrose, the St. Estephe deuxième cru (second growth). Montrose has a little more than 90ha of vines, the entire site overlooking the Gironde. The vineyard is 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. Around 50% (or less) of the crop goes to make the grand vin and around 30% (or more) goes into La Dame de Montrose. (The rest is used elsewhere or sold in bulk.) In good years La Dame de Montrose is considered a bargain, in the best years it stands alone as a great wine. The Dame de Montrose herself is the late Yvonne Charmolüe, who ran the estate from 1944 to 1960.

The rich and full-bodied Coppermine Road Cabernet Sauvignon, named after a neighbouring road, is based on "parent of the Reynell Clone" material, renowned for its low yield, violet blackcurrant aromas and naturally high acidity. This is a classic "best-of-vintage" Australian-style Cabernet Sauvignon, with a great reputation for aging. Typically it shows intense mulberry, violet, cedar aromas with rich cassis, plum, dark chocolate flavours, muscular tannins and underlying savoury oak. After vinification in headed-down open fermenters, fermentation is completed in barrel. 18 months maturation in new and old French oak follows. Older wines may show a touch of earthy, sage, mint characters.

Domaine A Cabernet Sauvignon, which also includes a small percentage of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot is a foil to the more opulent mainland styles. Violets, roses and blackcurrants pervade through the wine like an English country garden. The tannins are especially fine grained and there is a beautiful freshness and mineral quality on the palate. The parcels of fruit are batch vinified in stainless steel tanks before maturation in 100% new oak for between two and three years.

Compelling and convincing, with florals, currants and blackberries, not too sweet; it has a savoury edge, with the oak seamlessly integrated. Perfectly ripe tannins with poise and presence ensure that this is lovely now, but will be more so in years to come.

A concentrated dark fruit spectrum with an abundance of ripe blackcurrants, cherries and a hint of cassis. Coffee bean, dark chocolate and black olives lie beneath. Subtle dustiness combines with a seductive violet lift, enhancing the varietal fragrance and increasing complexity. A dense and layered palate with incredible texture. The generosity of the palate is carefully laced with a fine and structural acid line. Dark cherries and currants weave through smokey and mocha notes, finishing with long tactile tannins.