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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.

Brooding and muscular, with impressive concentration and complexity, Domaine de Montilles Corton Clos du Roi is a traditional style that is firm in structure but not austere. Etienne de Montilles sensitive winemaking lends a vibrancy and freshness to this Grand Cru Corton.

BROKENWOOD WINES HBA Vineyard Selection Shiraz, Hunter-McLaren Vale A museum release after ten years of cellaring at the winery the HBA Shiraz is an exultant blend. An amalgamation of the iconic Graveyard Vineyard from the Hunter Valley (Classified Exceptional) and the Wade Vineyard from Blewitt Springs, McLaren Vale, where they source their highly rated single vineyard Block 2. Both regions had a warm and dry vintage, allowing the grapes to be picked at full ripeness, providing a beautifully balanced depth of flavour. Expressing sweet earthy notes and dark chocolate on the nose, the oak and fruit integration is seamless on the fine and medium to full-bodied palate, with a refined core of dark fruits and a lengthy finale.

Warm, complex, earthy spice tones with a lovely richness. Powerful yet elegant and ageing beautifully.

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.

Regarded a Super Second (but technically a 3me growth), Palmer is capable of producing wines that equal or even outstrip the quality of its famous Premier cru neighbour, Ch. Margaux. Named for the wealthy English military man who bought the estate in the early 19th century, Palmer is now majority owned by the Mahler Besse and Sichel families - famous Bordeaux negociants. Many of the best plots on the property were purchased after the Classification of 1855, explaining in part why Palmer did not warrant higher standing at that time. Certainly today there is no question that the wine is among Bordeauxs best. The estate also makes a separate second label - named Alter Ego - which is made from similarly high quality fruit but treated differently in the winery with the aim of producing a counterpoint in style to the First wine.