Attractive, ruby-red colour, with an extraordinary concentration of fruit, the wine possesses aromas of redcurrant, black cherry, and a hint of tobacco. A wine with big body, it's rounded and velvety on the palate, with smooth tannins. A hint of vanilla and toast is followed by a long, smooth finish. A very elegant wine.

FAMILIA ZUCCARDI Aluvional Malbec, Paraje Altamira, Valle de Uco, Mendoza

Founded more than 150 years ago, Yeringberg is both a pioneer and enduring icon of the Yarra Valley. Fourth-generation winemaker Sandra de Pury views her art as the perfect combination of intellectual, physical and sensory engagement, and shes continuing to scale new heights with the wines. This effortlessly restrained Cabernet blend is the estates flagship red, and has won the trophy for Best Cabernet Sauvignon at the Yarra Valley Wine Show for the past three out of four vintages. Its complex yet pure, from blood plums, violets and cassis to cigars, tapenade and Christmas cake. Its serious yet seamlessly structured. This beauty will be sitting pretty for 20 years.

Bright medium red with purple hue in colour; On the nose: pronounced Blackcurrant, crushed wet leaves and dark plums, bouquet of wild violet and a decent amount of almost wet tobacco oak. A full bodied wine that has great length on the palate with firm but refined tannins. Simply outstanding in its class.

Rated 97 Halliday points. "Deep crimson-purple; whereas the '11 had to fight every inch of the way, this wine displays almost contemptuous ease in the way it has marshalled the layers of black fruits and ripe tannins that soak up the new oak inputs. This will be one of the long-lived, great Black Labels." James Halliday Wine Companion, July 2015.

Nicolás Catena Zapata planted the Adrianna vineyard in Gualtallary with a single goal in mind: to find the coolest location for growing vines in Mendoza. Originally, viticulturists feared that Bordeaux varieties such as Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon would not ripen in Adrianna. In terms of the Winkler classification, a method developed in California to add degrees and categorize regions according to their climate, the weather at Adrianna is between zone 1 and zone 2 depending on the year, putting it between Burgundy and a very cool part of Bordeaux. Even so, no French woman would dare to plant Cabernet Sauvignon or Malbec in Burgundy. Yet that is exactly what the Catenas did in the high-altitude soils of Adrianna. Nicolás planted the Adrianna Vineyard with Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay cuttings from France, and with Malbec taken from Lot 18 of his 75-year-old Angélica vineyard. Over the next few years the wines consistently proved to have more minerality and more acidity than wines from other sites in the Southern Uco Valley at lower altitudes—sites such as Altamira, La Consulta and Eugenio Bustos. The Adrianna Malbecs have more grip and denser tannins. Fortuna Terrae means luck of the land in Latin, and indeed, then vines from this parcel of the Adrianna Vineyard are lucky. The deep loamy soils are home to many varieties of native grasses which prevent erosion and attract beneficial insects, singing birds and mountain foxes. Because of the freshness imparted by the deep soils and high altitude, the wines of Fortuna Terrae have optimal acidity and delicate flower aromas. It is best to enjoy this wine a few years or decades after harvest. This cuvée takes its name from a small parcel of the Adrianna Vineyard that is completely covered with oval white stones and was the site of an ancient riverbed. The abundant stones provide optimal drainage and extreme temperatures. They absorb heat and moderate the nights, but also function like ice cubes after a very cold night. Stony soil Malbecs tend to be extremely aromatic, rich and luxurious, just like the River Malbec from Adrianna. This wine can be enjoyed young or aged for decades.