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.

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.

Entry: Velvety and plush and fragrant rich blackberrycherry fruits. Some tangy cedar and lingering cigar box characters. Middle Palate: Juicy round black cherry fruits, tempered with the soft idiosyncratic "milk chocolate" McLaren Vale Shiraz sweetness and roundness. After Palate: Lashings of trademark milk chocolate with blackberries and dark-fleshed plums and spice with velvety, smooth tannins. Finish: Juicy blackberry and mocha notes intertwined with signature lush McLaren Vale tannins. It's like taking a big mouthful of Black Forest cake.

Deep rich red showing a youthful purple rim. Lifted notes of blackberry, chocolate and spice, with secondary characters of blueberry, leather and soy provides a complex and intense introduction to the wine. The palate is full bodied, displaying classic spice and ripe berry notes, integrated oak and concentration for which Australian Shiraz is renowned. It has spice and savoury notes with plentiful ripe succulent tannins on the finish.

Beresford wines capture the timeless elegance, powerful complexity and unique essence of McLaren Vale, resulting in wines of great substance, balance and depth. Their McLaren Vale Shiraz is a beautiful example of this, rich plum and blackcurrants with overtones of mocha and spice. A rich full palate, with hints of mocha and spice. Subtle use of oak further adds complexity while the palate finishes with a firm, but soft tannins. A well balanced wine with great depth, length and resistance of flavour.

This Shiraz is sourced from the McLaren Parish Vineyard in the classic Shiraz region of McLaren Vale, South Australia. Aromas of glace cherry and poached blood plum melded with dark chocolate, leather vanillin and all-spice. A rich and full bodied wine displaying powerful concentration of juicy dark plum, dark chocolate, black pepper and earth.

Round yet fine and detailed, this medium bodied wine is brimming with lovely fruit density. Notes of red current, cassis, black cherry, and plum lead the charge, supported by secondary notes of bay leaf, graphite, wet clay and chocolate. Starting early, tannins are savoury in nature and run long through the palate complimented by lovely accents of ash and coal dust. Dense and chewy through to the finish, this wine has excellent length.

Church Block first appeared back in 1972 under the watchful eye of Greg Trott who was taken by one of the original vineyards that ran alongside the small Bethany Church, across the road from Wirra Wirra's old ironstone cellars. Over the last 4 decades, Church Block has become one of Australia's favourites with its rich, full-bodied style consisting of swathes of black and blue fruits and a nice, smooth finish that seems to last ever so long for such an affordable red wine.

Penny's Hill Cracking Black Shiraz continues to be what all McLaren Vale Shiraz should be. Deliciously intense, with all its components looking their best and beautifully synchronised. There's lengthy concentrated blackberry fruit, liquorice and pepper. Superb!

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.