Alain Graillot has proved beyond a doubt that it is possible to make rich wines from the gently sloped alluvial plain where the Isère River meets the Rhone. His concentrated reds demonstrate all that is exciting about the Syrah grape: black fruit, intense aromaticity, pepper and spice complexity underpinned by crisp acidity and fine tannins. Graillot works organically, harvesting fruit by hand and fermenting in whole bunches. He chooses to age his wines in used barrels, one to three-years-old, purchased from Burgundy’s best estates. His Crozes-Hermitage is difficult to resist young. Despite the tannins that inevitably come from the inclusion of whole bunches in fermentation, Graillot wines are seldom hard-edged, overly tannic, or in need of extended cellaring. In fact, they are often flat-out delicious very soon after release. That being said, their track record for rewarding patient cellaring is exemplary. La Guiraude is a tête de cuvée, a barrel selection made only in vintages where it is felt there are some barrels that exhibit particularly intense and age-worthy personalities. Not necessarily a ‘better’ wine than the Domaine Crozes, it is typically more powerful and in need of longer cellaring.

Penfolds St Henri is one of Australia's greatest red wines. The Shiraz for St Henri is selected for subtlety and elegance and the finished wine has the structure complexity for extended bottle maturation. The 1991 is a classic St Henri vintage that is good to drink until 2022.

Powell & Son Kraehe Marananga Shiraz, Barossa Valley Powell & Son (first vintage 2014) is the venture of Barossa Valley legend Dave Powell and his son Callum. The Kraehe vineyard is at 235m with eastern exposure on Maranangas ironstone ridge. Its soils are red, ironstone-rich clays. The wine is aged for two years in so-called Magic Casks, French oak barrels with staves double the normal thickness. Kraehe is the epitome of Barossa Valley Shiraz -- rich and generous in fruit: plum, dark cherry and blackberry, with smooth, powerful tannins and a mouth-coating palate. The style is intense, opulent and concentrated. Kraehe Marananga Shiraz typically shows blueberry and plum fruits, attractive oak characters and great complexity -- ground coffee and mocha, meat, earth and dried herbs. The palate has layers of flavour -- blackberry compote and kirsch liqueur, wood smoke, cured meats and black olive -- through to the long finish.

St Hallett Mighty Ox Shiraz (Magnum) St Halletts Mighty Ox Shiraz is a new icon for the heritage Barossa label. It is a decadent, classic style of Barossa Shiraz, saturated with black fruit and fit for many decades of cellaring.Fruit for this wine is sourced from several sites in the Northern Barossa, in Ebenezer, Greenock, and Moppa Hills. Bold and strong, it is named for the oxen that were once used to plough the soils of the Barossa. All parcels for this wine are treated individually, then spend 8 to 12 days of warm fermentation on skins. It is aged in American oak. The result is a full bodied showstopper, luscious and driving on the palate. The fruit intensity here is immense, with oak nuances teeming with vanilla and dark chocolate. The finish is incredibly long.

Penfolds Lunar New Year Bin 389 South Australia Cabernet Shiraz 2019 The great Australian blend from the great Australian winery, the Penfolds Bin 389 is often called Baby Grange. These big babies are dressed to celebrate Lunar New Year with a specially designed label and presentation box. Lunar New Year, Year of the Tiger magnums are strictly limited, only available while stocks last. Whether you give this as a gift to others or to your own cellar, it's a must share with friends and family over dinner. Buy two and open one this year and then a second in twelve years time when the year of the tiger rolls around once more. Bin 389 is the quintessential expression of the Penfolds red wine style. Typically it is fresh, generous and buoyant with ripe dark chocolate, dark berry fruit, beautifully extracted flavours, fine-grained tannins and underlying new oak characters. First produced in 1960, Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz is nicknamed Poor Mans Grange or Baby Grange and is one of Australias great cellaring red wines. Bin 389 is matured in a combination of new and one and two year old American "ex Grange and Bin 707" hogsheads for 18 months. The best vintages can develop and improve for decades.