This 2014 Rosabrook Cabernet Merlot is one of the Margaret River's signature wine styles. Great licks of black fruit from the Cabernet Sauvignon interlaced with the smooth plum characters on Merlot. It is a beautifully made wine with great balance and a lengthy finish. It will be great with meat dishes or even a cheese platter. Owned by Calneggia Family Vineyards, one of Margaret River's pioneering grape growers with winemaker legend Brian Fletcher pulling the winemaking levers.

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.

Dollar for dollar, wines such as this truly are remarkable value. Soft, round with flavours of ripe plums, blackcurrant and a finely grained mouthfeel.

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.

Howard Park are Western Australia's largest family-owned winery whose reputation is unsurpassed. Their Madfish range of wines continue to provide great value-for-money while still offering that Western Australian quality we've all come to enjoy. The Cabernet Merlot has a luscious smooth ripe flavour profile without being sweet with regional notes of black olives and eucalypt.

The 2012 Cos dEstournel is a classic expression of St.-Estèphe, with notes of graphite, crushed rock, blackberry, blackcurrant fruit, a medium to full-bodied mouthfeel, structured, but well-integrated tannins and a long finish of 35 seconds or more. This is a beauty and an undeniable top success in the Médoc for 2012. Give it 4-6 years of cellaring and drink it over the following two decades or more. The final blend, which achieved 13.8% alcohol, is 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot and the balance Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot - Rober Parker Jr