DOMAINE MONGEARD-MUGNERET Les Suchots 1er cru, Vosne-Romanee Bordering both Romanee Saint Vivant and Richebourg, the 13.08 hectare premier cru Les Suchots produces wines that are, at their best, beautifully seductive and perfumed wines without quite the structure of the two grand crus that shares its borders. Mongeard Mugneret have a .22 ha plot with vines that are 50 years old and its a wine that will reward at least ten years, if not longer, in the cellar.

DOMAINE DE LA POUSSE D'OR Les Caillerets Clos des 60 Ouvrees 1er cru Monopole, Volnay

Wynns Michael Shiraz is a 'best-of-vintage' Shiraz from Wynns vineyard sites in Coonawarra and is named after David Wynn's youngest son. Made in the years that best show Coonawarra's unique terroir, this latest release displays the qualities that have made the 'Michael' one of the most highly regarded of all Australian Shiraz with aromas of red currants, cherries and raspberry that mesh every so well with the olive and white spice characters. The palate follows with an elegant structure bursting with dark brooding spice and succulent ripe tannins.

Taittinger Comtes de Champagne is the finest expression of the world famous wine from one of the greatest Champagne Houses. First produced in 1952, Comtes is made from 100% Chardonnay grapes from 6 Grand Cru sites in the Cité de Blancs. Showing a pristine pale yellow colour with very light, abundant bubbles which rise uniformly to form a fine mousse. The evocative bouquet opens with notes of pears and fresh cute white flowers. Left in the glass for a time, the nose develops a richness and density of pure character. Once on the palate, Comtes is lively, direct and precise with flavours of candied lemon zest and fresh pineapple. The balance is something to behold. This Champagne's marriage of finesse and aromatic intensity is a promise of further potential, but already offers very pleasurable drinking.

Krondorf 121 Settlers Barossa Valley Shiraz The 121 Settlers Old Vine Shiraz is sourced from a single site at the cooler southern extremity of Barossa, in St. Jakobi, abutting the western ridge of the Lyndoch sub-zone. Here, a conflation of red clay and loam promotes earlier ripening, a mitigating factor against inclement weather and the growing risk of early season frosts that Climate Change has foisted upon us. As importantly these dense soils imbue the wines with a firm tannic carriage, ensuring passage to greater complexity in the cellar, while serving as a structural harness for typically exuberant Barossan fruit. The average age of the vines is in excess of 35 years, with gnarled octogenarian survivors among them. Yields are inherently low as the established root systems reach deep below the soils substrata in search of water and the requisite nutrients drawn through it. Yet the fruit that is produced is immaculate: vibrant, concentrated and firmly stamped with the regional postcode of generosity. The winemaking is dutifully sensitive, chaperoning the fruit from vineyard to bottle with minimal intrusion: gravity feeds, gentle pigeage and 16-18 months in used, rather than new, oak. The result is one of dark fruit allusions from plum to blackberry, underlain by a potpourri of spice including black pepper, clove and star anise, all melded to a pungent thread of mineral. The oak is apparent, but only as an adjunct to propel the finish long. As with many Barossan greats, the fruit weight allows for early appeal, albeit, this is a wine that will easily cellar for 15 years onwards.

FORJAS DEL SALNES Finca Genoveva Caino, Rias Baixas

Casa Castillo Monastrell, Jumilla Casa Castillo Jumilla is hand-picked and fermented wild in tank, before spending eight to nine months in larger format, neutral French oak. Think pulpy blueberry, raspberry bon bon, violet, smoked meats and a twine of sage-brushed tannins, corralling the flavours into a long corridor across the palate. The wine is full-bodied, to be sure. Yet the gentle approach to extraction and employment of a substantial percentage of whole berries in the mix ensures a lightness of touch, a mid-weighted feel and the sense of the fruit popping through the mouth. Versatile at the table, this is an everyday wine for the most assiduous drinker to the layperson.

Casa Castillo El Molar Garnacha, Jumilla Casa Castillo El Molar Garnacha Jumilla is borne of sandy clay and gravel, differentiating itself from the pack by virtue of its Garnacha makeup. Hand-harvested and fermented wild in concrete, with a finishing of 14 months in assorted large format French wood. With consistent scores in the mid-90s across vintages from the Wine Advocate and James Suckling, this rich wine bares a striking resemblance to the brawn, core of kirsch, tapenade accents and long-limbed garrigue-soaked tannins of fine Châteauneuf du Pape, at a fraction of the price. It is now wonder, as the fragmented rocky soils are virtually interchangeable.