An accord of three very different parcels of superior McLaren Vale vineyard, vinified on skins for a week and a half in traditional open vats, followed by transfer to a selection of seasoned and new French oak barrels for completion of malolactic and eighteen months maturation. The individual Blocks of Cabernet were cannily shifted between different cooperages of oak to impart layers of flavour and enhance structure, the final assemblage is a judicious draught of vineyard parcels to achieve layers of flavour and opulent tannin profile.

In 1891 William Formby wielded his leading team of Clydesdale horses into action, planting the first two acres of Cabernet Sauvignon at Metala. Today his great, great grandson continues the family tradition. Guy Adams grows fruit for some of Australia's most esteemed labels. The pick of the crop however, from four individual plantings on the eminent Metala property, is held back for Formby & Adams, the Cabernet contingent from Brothers in Arms.

The Forest Hill philosophy is to make individual wines of the highest quality which can express the distinctive regionality of Mount Barker. They have taken aim to produce an approachable, understated Cabernet that's a pure expression of the unique blocks that lie within the forty year old Forest Hill vineyard. An exuberant wine displaying intense layers of plump black fruits, chocolate box aromas and well integrated, luxuriously tight grained oak. An accomplished Cabernet of finesse and elegance, of power and suitably vigorous varietal definition.

One of the great endowments of Forest Hill is the age and maturity of its cool climate vineyard. Home to the Great Southern's eldest Cabernet vines, the original plantings are over forty years of age. These unirrigated vines on their own roots produce concentrated and complete wines, elegant and refined. Fashioned from the estate's very best parcels of select, hand picked Cabernet Sauvignon grapes, Block 5 exhibits splendid concentration of silky, grainy tannins, extraordinary intensity and ripeness of fruit with engrossing overall complexity.

A vigorous Cabernet wine with dark fruit, lineal tannins and immaculate oak. The Flinders Bay label was born out of a joint venture between the Gillespie and Ireland families, bringing together a wealth of viticultural, winemaking and retail experience. The express objective was to maintain a total commitment to quality in site selection, fruit growing and viniculture. Each vintage, the Flinders Bay winemaking team take aim at producing a Bordelais styled Cabernet Sauvignon, to rank amongst the finest Margaret Rivers.

The essential Margaret River style of Cabernet, crafted from the pick of the crop grown to the Karridale, Wallcliffe and Wilyabrup districts. Margaret River delivers much of Australia's most distinctive varietal wines, there are unique sub regions and Wilyabrup makes the best Cabernet. After fifteen vintages, the Flametree team have established a pretty good understanding of what works and what doesn't. Assembling the finest parcels means that they can construct a penetrating Cabernet wine with alluring bramble aromas, firm tannins and soft fleshy palate.

One of Australia's longest continuously operating purveyors of fine wine, Taylor Ferguson can trace their origins back to establishment circa 1898. Today, the Taylor Ferguson team can draw harvests from a substantial catalogue of the choicest vineyards to create the most outstanding vintages. Parcels picked off vines thirty to fifty years of age, planted to prestigious sites in Barossa Valley, have been assembled into a sensational Cabernet Sauvignon, endowed with layers of regional chocolate fruit characters, perfumed currant flavours and ripe, supporting tannins.

Fallen Giants is a reference to local folklore, a canon of indigenous myths about how the Grampians were formed by colossal birds as they struggled for primacy. The auspicious vineyard at Halls Gap contains a superior block of old Cabernet vines which yield less than a tonne and a half per acre. Wrought through the full tradition of old world winemaking techniques, a magnificent construct of Cabernet Sauvignon with imposing ebony fruit characters and dauntless, epic tannins, treat your Fallen Giants to a brew of ox cheek and kipflers, trotters and truffled red wine Jus.

Redbrook capitalizes on the exquisite synergy derived from omniscient viticulture and sagacious winemaking. Fashioned for style, elegance and complexity, Redbrook is an ultimate expression of the vintage and of exceptional Margaret River fruit grown to vineyards which have consistently delivered the highest quality grapes. The salubrious maritime climes along Margaret River encourage flavour, tannin and structure to catch up with sugar ripeness, yielding an intensely coloured Cabernet Sauvignon with concentrated, elegant varietal flavours and fine, ripe tannins.

A majority of fruit is sourced from the eminent Wilyabrup area of Margaret River, a district that's renowned for producing exceptional Cabernet wines. The balmy afternoon sea breezes serve to cap evening temperatures, making for cool, summer nights which are ideal for the production of intensely flavoured grapes. Parcels of Cabernet Sauvignon destined for inclusion into Metricup Road are harvested at complete flavour ripeness, exhibiting an intensity of colour, tannin ripeness and varietal definition that's markedly Margaret River.

Elderton Cabernet was winner of the prestigious Jimmy Watson Memorial Trophy in 1993, the following years it claimed back to back Gold and Trophy at the Barossa Wine Show. The 1994 vintage gave Elderton its first international Gold medal in London, an unbroken tradition of remarkable vintages have embossed the Elderton Estate name as a national champion, being chosen by Qantas for service in first class. The superior quality of fruit grown to Elderton's fifty year old estate Cabernet vines, yield a wine of intensity, opulence and grace.

Elderton have been counting for some years on friends in the Eden Valley to provide fruit for the production of a small batch Cabernet Sauvignon trial. So impressed were they with the beauty and structure of the wines that they acquired a vineyard on the outskirts of Craneford, hand selected for Cabernet Sauvignon, one of the most beautiful sites in the area, where rolling hills and valleys provide much variety in expression, bearing vines up to thirty years of age.

Elderton know what it takes to make Australia's best Cabernet Sauvignon, having claimed multiple trophies including the 1993 Jimmy Watson. The Ashmead block has consistently produced small parcels of outstanding quality fruit. Traditionally the wines from this site are blended into the Estate range, however in 1998 Lorraine Ashmead realized the excellence of fruit and released it as a pure single vineyard wine.

The first and final word in world class Barossa Cabernet, aged in a luxurious selection of completely new French oak hogsheads. The Ashmead block is so low yielding that it was almost gutted and re established to more productive plantings. The vines suffer from the notorious Dead Arm disease but yields an extraordinary quality of fruit. Fortunately for the world of wine, Ashmead was retained as an Australian Grand Cru Classe. Elderton are not unfamiliar with ultra Cabernet, having claimed significant trophies including the 1993 Jimmy Watson.

At the tender age of six weeks, Samantha Dutschke was introduced to winemaking when her feet were dipped into a bucket of fermenting Cabernet, the idea being to make footprints on paper for her grandparents in America. Whenever a truly spectacular vintage of Cabernet Sauvignon comes around, a small amount of Dutschke Sami is set aside for a very special limited release.

The winemaking at Dominique Portet has one foot planted firmly in tradition and the other in the latest developments. It is ultimately an empathy for the grape and respect for the shared experiences of winemaking pioneers which drive the Portet wineworks, nestled amongst the flourishing vineyards of Victoria. It is from these propitious sites on the benign aspects of Yarra Valley, that Dominique Portet identifies auspicious parcels, so akin to the peerless quality of harvest that he husbanded during his childhood amongst the vines of Château Lafite.

André was Dominique Portet’s father, role model and mentor. The eigth generation in a distinguished lineage of vigneron, André raised Dominique amongst the world's most sacred vines during his tenure as manager at the illustrious Château Lafite-Rothschild. An assemblage of parcels Cabernet Sauvignon, hand picked and hand sorted from elite blocks in the Pyrenees and Yarra Valley, Andre can only ever be made from the most exceptional vintages.

Inaugural release of a superior Margaret River Cabernet, destined to be only ever made from the most outstanding vintage years. Crafted from the pick of an elite parcel in the northern precinct of Wilyabrup, where the warmer maritime climes encourage vines to yield a precious harvest of elegantly statuesque Cabernet Sauvignon. The icon of the Devils Lair marque and a preeminent regional flagship, replete with impenetrably rich, blackberry lozenge fruit characters, framed by a veneer of ebony oak, lined with the most astonishingly silky tannins.

Deen was a dynamic and energetic De Bortoli, who expanded the winemaking estate founded by his parents. Deen created the Vat Series to make available a range of delicious, full flavoured but approachable wines which drink brilliantly in their youth. Deen personally made the wines and chalked numbers on the vats to identify them. If you like your Cabernet Sauvignon to be easy drinking and highly compatible with good food, full of bright varietal charm and without any gritty tannins or overbearing oak character, then Deen Vat 9 is for you.

Alfred Deakin was Australia's second Prime Minister, he held the office three times in the first decade of Federation. Deakin was a patriot and visionary who understood the importance of a scientific approach to Australian land management. Deakin left his mark on the Murray Darling basin by importing the expertise of California's Chaffey Brothers to prepare the vast inland valley for a century of state of the art agriculture. Deakin Estate Cabernet is a fully approachable and satisfying early syle, brimming with luscious bramble cherry fruit.

A superb construct of Yarra Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, crafted from three estate parcels of fully mature, low yielding vines, planted 1987 to 1991 at Dixon's Creek. A highly regional expression of Cabernet, exhibiting profound varietal definition, bursting with dark bramble berry flavours, seasoned by a dusting of cedar and garnish of bushvine leaf. The Victorian of choice to accompany dry aged sirloin with grilled marrow, truffled mash and morelles.

The High Trellis paddock has been yielding the most splendid vintages of wine since the late 19th century, so nicknamed as the vines were the first to be trained above knee height following acquisition of the property by dArenberg. For decades, High Trellis Cabernet Sauvignon has been released to unanimous critical acclaim by the wine industry press and international cognoscente. Indeed, the inaugural 1968 vintage earned a place in history when it claimed Australia's most prestigious accolade, the highly coveted Jimmy Watson Trophy.

Coppermine Road is named after an avenue, very near the d'Arenberg property which runs parallel to the finest block of Cabernet Sauvignon vines to be found anywhere in McLaren Vale. The precious grapes are descended largely from a curious and near extinct unnamed clone which yields no more than a single tonne per acre because of its very poor setting ability and tiny berries. The quality of the fruit however is far superior, with wonderful violet and blackcurrant aromas, great acidity and long but intense, finely grained tannins.

Dalwhinnie vineyard was planted to a unique topographical amphitheatre which precipitates its own meso climate. The site is totally frost free and allows fruit to reach complete physiological ripeness in nine out of ten years. This rare confluence of temperate climes, cooler altitudes and parched Pyrenees soils, sublimate into one of Australia's most enduring and distinctive styles of Cabernet Sauvignon. A stunning wine, the overall impression is of ripe pure black fruits, layered with rich dark chocolate and seasoned by notes of violet and camphor.

Vintage 2004 represents twenty consecutive years of fine tuning within the vineyard and throughout the entire winemaking operation. Moonambel 2004 offers a palate and nose of exceptional depth and finesse, rating amongst the finest editions of Cabernet that Dalwhinnie have ever made. The style is fleshier than previous releases, bearing more fruit and tannin, endowed with great freshness and magnificent structure.

The vines at Crawford River were planted from the ground up, with a view to realizing minimal harvests of world class fruit. The auspicious site was originally used for grazing, established to viticulture in 1975, it was generations of cattle and sheep which prepared the land for winegrowing. A rare confluence of soils, limestones, friable basalts and ancient alluvials, form a terroir that's heaven sent for Cabernet Sauvignon. Finely boned, muscular and statuesque, a flagship Victorian effort to rival her siblings from the most regal Cabernet appellations in the world.

From the dry grown, organically farmed Calgardup vineyard, just two kilometres inland from Redgate Beach. An essential part of the making requires a fastidious sorting of fruit, every grape has to pass the test, before being added to a large French oak vat for a course of natural indigenous yeast ferments. Followed by a term in seasoned barriques to retain the primacy of fruit. Designed to express the pristine and vibrant coastal climes, Corymbia actually tastes of the Cabernet Sauvignon grape, the dirt and the sea without pretention, Margaret River at its most eloquent and most vibrant.

Founded by the nation's most renowned wine industry savant, Coldstream Hills is as fastidious today under the stewardship of its highly respected winemakers, as it was in the halcyon days of the emergent Yarra Valley boutique wineries. Vintage conditions permitting, Coldstream Hills releases a special Reserve edition in excruciatingly restricted quantities, assembled from the most exceptional barrels of superior Cabernet Sauvignon. The intensive handling of this princely Cuvée includes the extravagance of new French oak ferments, followed by the luxury of extended maturation.

Langhorne Creek can lay claim to the finest Cabernet Sauvignon. Vines are planted to sites which are rich in mineral and organic alluvial soils, nourished every year by annual floods. The ripening grapes are infused by the perfumes and chewy, gummy flavours of ubiquitous eucalypts, which line the shores of River Bremer. Cockfighter's Ghost found the ideal site, one that would yield harvests of the most exemplary Cabernet. An intense wine, brimming with blackcurrant and dark cherry flavours, fragrantly seasoned by a gentle frame of sweet French oak.

Cabernet Sauvignon grapes, grown to the higher altitudes of fine Yarra Valley vineyards, are deeply enthused by the extended growing seasons, brought about by cooler climes. Such slower ripening conditions encourage layers of intense flavours and varietal complexity. This unlabelled Yarra Valley Cabernet Sauvignon articulates the influence of the region and skill of the winemaker. Outstanding value in a Cleanskin, an effusive wine of ripe varietal blackberry and cassis characters, gentle background oak and measured, disciplined tannins.

Margaret River makes intensely flavoured, varietally articulate, astonishingly well balanced wines. The remarkable microclimes, within the exclusive coterie of vineyards on the peninsula between Cape Naturaliste and Cape Leeuwin, have a style all their own. Cabernet Sauvignon from these beatified soils makes a world class wine, eerily similar to it's varietal siblings from Bordeaux. An intensity of dark berry flavours, brimming with enticing perfumes and the most gracious tannins, culminate on an intense closet spice, currant and ribena finish.

Coonawarra Cabernet has established itself as a unique genre of Australian wine. The vibrant Terra rossa soils which lie under tiny Coonawarra's superlative vineyards, impart powerful flavours and magnificent richness to the finished wines. This unlabelled offering exudes the characteristic blackberry and currant highlights which distinguish the noble Cabernet, accompanied by spice and vanilla characters that are the hallmarks of quality oak. Excellent value, which in less bountiful years would be branded with the winemaker's label.

An extremely limited edition, crafted from a shrewd cull of the choicest bunches, picked off an elite block of low yelding, dy grown, sixty year old vines, the premiership of Clare Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Claymore have always placed the greatest emphasis on securing the finest parcels, in and around the sacred soils of Watervale. A timely vinification is follwed by two long years in the finest French oak hogsheads, all aimed at achieving the holy grail of moreish fruit, velvet textures and tasty, toothsome tannins.

Margaret River makes mighty Cabernet but Clairault make a priority of gentle winemaking. Parcels are cannily crushed so that each berry is only, barely just split, affording the ferments minimal berry degradation, encouraging the retention of fresh, clean varietal Cabernet characters in the finished wine. Vinified on skins for optimal extraction and treated to a timely ten months in nothing but the finest French oak, a vivid articulation of Margaret River Cabernet, brimming with dark blue currants and cassis, its refined minerality resolving on a refreshing glace cherry finish.