Woodlands Shelley Anne Cabernet Sauvignon
One of the early pioneers of the Margaret River region, Woodlands' vineyards date back to 1973. As curator of these historic vineyards, Stuart & Andrew Watson have firmly re-established Woodlands into the top echolon of Margaret River producers. Sourced from an the outstanding 2008 vintage, the Shelley Anne Cabernet Sauvignon shows cassis, mulberry and blackcurrant with that typical bay leaf and cedar undertones. A wine that will live for well over a decade.
Katnook Estate Odyssey Cabernet Sauvignon
Katnook are synonymous with premium quality Cabernet from Coonawarra and this brilliant wine stands up against any great Cabernet in the world. Aged for 35 month in French oak, the aromas and flavours of dark berries and spicy plum are beautifully interwoven with mulberry. Will age for 10 - 20 years with ease.
Henschke Cyril Henschke Cabernet Sauvignon
Henschke's flagship Cabernet is named after the late Cyril Henschke who purchased the Eden Valley property in the 1960s. Stephen and Prue Henschke then established the vineyard with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc vines which produces this intensely perfumed Cabernet. Matured in 100% new French oak for 18 months, this exceptional wine shows blackcurrant and cedar characters balanced with superb fine grained tannin.
Chateau Roc de Cambes
Chateau Talbot 4me cru classe
Classified as one of ten 4me crus in 1855, Chateau Talbot, in the Saint-Julien appellation, has a distinguished history. Throughout the years, it has been owned by the Governor of Aquitane, the Earl of Shrewsbury and the Marquis of Aux before being acquired by the Cordier family, the fourth generation of which are still in ownership today. Their 2016 Grand Cru is a wine of exceptional personality and charisma, already impressing critics with its silky sweetness and subtle edge. Balanced, crisp, and full of complexity, it is loaded with ageing potential, promising to become something even more prodigious just a few short years from now.
Chateau Pape-Clement Cru classe
Chateau Pape Clement located in Pessac Léognan is part of Bernard Magrezs stable of estates. The 32.5 ha vineyard is planted to Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot on gravel, sandy and clay soils. Fruit is handpicked and hand sorted before undergoing a cool pre-ferment maceration and whole berry fermentation in wooden vats. Each parcel is fermented separately. The wines are manually punched down and run off into 100% new French oak barriques where they mature for 18-20 months. Bernard Magrez is credited with turning around quality at the Chateau, including introducing rigourous vineyard selection and implementing state-of-the art winemaking. As a result, Chateau Pape Clement is now considered one of the finest producers in Pessac-Léognan.
Chateau Pontet-Canet 5me cru classe
Chateau Pontet Canet is a large Pauillac estate that can trace its origins back to 1725, when Jean-François Pontet gave his name to the estate he had acquired. The wine was not château-bottled until 1972 and in 1975 the property was sold to Guy Tesseron, who also owns Château Lafon-Rochet in St-Estephe. Today it is owned and run by Alfred and Michel Tesseron. Pontet-Canet's 78 hectares of vineyards adjoin those of Mouton Rothschild and are planted with Cabernet Sauvignon (63%), Merlot (32%) and Cabernet Franc (5%). The Tesserons have vastly improved the quality of the Pontet-Canet wines which are now full-bodied and packed with ripe, chewy, black fruits and finely integrated tannins. The wines have great ageing potential. Pontet-Canet is classified as a 5ème Cru Classé.. It was the first major Bordeaux wine producer to earn official organic certification, and its biodynamic production is a hallmark of its current operations.
Chateau Leoville-Barton 2me cru classe
Small piece of Bordeaux trivia - Chateau Leoville-Barton has no chateau to speak of! In fact, all wines are made at its sister property, Chateau Langoa Barton, which is the storybook chateau pictured on the label. Once part of a much larger estate - in fact the largest in St Julien - Chateau Leoville-Barton has been under the ownership of the Barton family since 1722. In their hands, traditional winemaking techniques remain integral to production - certainly more so than many other modern Bordeaux estates. Leoville-Barton Bordeaux is famous for its traditional, beefy, and strapping style with an excellent reputation for ageing, making them particularly attractive additions to any wine cellar.
Le Petit Lion du Marquis de Las Cases, Second Wine of Ch Las-Cases
With one of the longest and most pedigreed histories in the Medoc region, Chateau Leoville-Las-Cases has passed through the hands of some of Frances most notable and wealthiest noble families, culminating in the Las Cases family - the final royal family to hold title to the Chateau. Up until the French Revolution, after which large portions of it were sold off, it was one of the largest vineyards in Bordeaux. Today, the estate remains family owned by the Delons, of which brother Jean Hubert and sister Genevieve manage proceedings. Their second wine, Le Petit Lion du Marquis de Las Cases, is a relative newcomer, only having been released for the first time in 2009. The 2016 vintage has been praised for its traditional style and light, nimble palate.
CHATEAU SMITH-HAUT-LAFITTE Rouge Grand cru classe
Dating back over 800 years in the Bordeaux region, Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte is owned today by Daniel and Florence Cathiard. The estate also features a world class spa, which specialises in Vinotherapie - using grape extracts in many of their treatments. Up until the year 2000, the estate was not known for producing top quality wines, however in the capable hands of the Cathiard family and after over a decade of hard work and reinvention, the wines truly began to come into their own. It has been, in the words of Andrew Caillard, an astonishing ascendancy in the past 15 years, and given the sterling reviews the 2016 vintage has received, its trajectory seems set to continue its meteoric rise.
