Tuck into an opulent McLaren Vale Shiraz Cab brimming with classic regional richness, class and complexity from the perfectly-sited vineyards of Dowie Doole, now in the confident and skilled hands of winemaker Chris Thomas. Enjoy rich plummy Shiraz showing classic McLaren Vale generosity and complexity, balanced by firm, fine grained tannins and savoury Cabernet backbone. Notes of dark fruit, hints of cassis, bay leaf, coffee bean and liquorice carry through to a long luxurious finish. Founders Drew Dowie and Norm Doole, both visionary and passionate about sustainability, have always been nuts about McLaren Vale geology – the sandy soils of Blewitt Springs and the ancient rocks of Tatachilla in particular. They paired up to form DOWIE DOOLE in 1995, and then, in 2015, sold it to their chief winemaker and fellow devotee Chris Thomas, who has worked at many top wineries including Fox Creek and Serafino Wines in McLaren Vale – as well as in Burgundy, France. Norm and Drew own neighbouring estates, one in each locale mentioned above, and both have sold one of their premium vineyards to ‘DD’ in order to boost its overall potential. Norm Doole’s California Road vineyard and Drew Dowie’s Tintookie vineyard at Blewitt Springs.

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.

Moss Wood Moss Wood Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Margaret River Moss Wood is one of the Margaret River originals (planted 1969; first vintage 1973) and this iconic flagship wine Langtons Classified since 1990 has long been Western Australias leading Cabernet Sauvignon. Figures from the cellarage company Wine Ark show that it consistently rates as Australias Most Collected Cabernet. Moss Wood Cabernet Sauvignon is intensely perfumed and finely structured with cassis-blackcurrant aromas, hints of cedar and touches of violet. The oak and fruit are neatly balanced. With proven ageing potential the wine develops subtle earth/demi-glace briar characters on the bouquet, and complexity and suppleness on the palate. The unirrigated and widely spaced vineyard (now 14.86-hectares) is planted on gentle north-east facing slopes with sandy loams to a gravelly red/brown loams over clay. Typically the fruit is hand-picked, de-stemmed into open tanks and hand-plunged four times a day until completion of fermentation. At the end of vinification, the wine is allowed to macerate for around 10 to 14 days prior to pressing off into barrel. The wine is matured in 30% new and seasoned French oak barriques for 24 months.

One of the original Second Growths of the Bordeaux Classification of 1855, Rauzan-Ségla's 51 hectares of mineral rich soils begin on the banks of the Gironde, on the left bank of Bordeaux. A complex mix of gravel, clay and limestone subsoil imparts a richness and complexity to the Cabernet (62%), Merlot (36%), Cabernet Franc (1%) and Petit Verdot (1%) grapes used to produce this powerfully intense and elegant wine. The estate was last sold in 1994 to the Wertheimer family of Chanel, who employed former Château Latour winemakers, David Orr and John Kolasa. Nicolas Audebert, the former winemaker at Cheval des Andes, the LVMH property in Mendoza Argentina, was hired to succeed John Kolasa following his retirement in 2014.

HAUT BAILLY II Second wine of Chateau Haut-Bailly, Pessac-Leognan

Kay Brothers Block 6 Shiraz is a very powerful, concentrated cellaring style with plenty of fruit richness, chocolaty tannins and underlying malty oak. The 1.6 hectare Block 6, which forms part of the Kay Brother's larger 22 hectare Amery Vineyards, was originally a "pumpkin patch" of old bush vines. The Block 6 fruit is batch-vinified in three to five tonne traditional open fermenters originally built by the Kay Brothers in 1895/6. Some parcels are hand plunged while others are fermented under header boards. At completion of fermentation the wine is drained and basket pressed into a combination of one-third each new, one year old and two year old American and Eastern European oak. Maturation takes place for around 18 to 24 months before assemblage and bottling under screw cap.