Howard Park's Great Southern vineyards again yielded a harvest of the most richly textured Cabernet Sauvignon, providing the structural backbone. A choice parcel from Margaret River has made a splendid contribution without dominating. Long, long, long! An elegant savoury wine with excellent structure, smells of cassis and cedar oak, luscious and appetising in the mouth, resolves on a finish of dusty herb tannins, lip smacking jube flavours and dulcetly perfumed oak.

Outstanding Langtons Classification. Abercrombie is the flagship Cabernet Sauvignon of Howard Park, noted for its outstanding structure, elegance and complexity. Abercrombie combines the austere dusty earth and blackcurrant aromas from Mount Barker, with the classic rich fruit and chocolate palette of Margaret River. Together they produce an elegantly balanced Cabernet wine with ripe, mature tannins backed up by quality French oak. Produced from the top 1% of fruit and only ever made in years when grapes of extraordinarily high quality are harvested.

Have Houghton got Wisdom? You bet, so sayeth Jack Mann, one of Australia's most significant, pioneering winemakers, that when wine reaches the state of sublime, there's no other on earth which can match it! Wisdom is just such a wine, fashioned exclusively from the finest parcels of Pemberton Chardonnay, hand picked from a single site, the very best of Houghton vineyards. A flagship wine of immense stature to accompany the perfect cheese souffle or freshly cooked crayfish, caressed by newburg and amontillado sauce.

The infectious enthusiasm of the late great Jack Mann, encouraged a small number of farmers in the Great Southern to try their hand at viticulture. The three Goundrey vineyards were amongst the first to be planted at Mount Barker, they remain meticulously managed and cared for by a dedicated team who work closely to ensure vintages of the finest fruit. The conspicuous freshness of Homestead Chardonnay is defined as much by the quality of harvest, as it is by a natural, minimalist winemaking approach, completely unwooded and unoaked.

The balmy aspects of Mount Barker yield the nation's most underrated Shiraz wines. Goundrey were here from the very start, amongst the earliest West Australian pioneers, they were inspired by the achievements of the great Jack Mann to take up viticulture in 1971. They now operate a priceless endowment of the most eminent vineyards in the region. Immediately engaging from first sniff, accessible to all, Great Southern Shiraz in the truest sense, ideally to be savoured alongside a serve of smartly dressed chops, either veal, pork or lamb.

Goundrey are based at Mount Barker, where the fortuitious microclimes deliver vintages of the most deeply flavoursome wines, which paradoxically seem more European than Aussie in style. The magnificent Langton estate property is home to Goundrey, recognized throughout the region as one of the most distinguished vineyards in all Great Southern. Essential to the superlative quality of their Sauvignon Blanc is the excellence of Mount Barker terroir, where the vines are stimulated to yield grapes of clean fresh flavours and intense, evocative aromaticness.

Homestead claimed conspicuous Gold Medal wins at the London International Wine & Spirit Competition for Cabernet Merlot two years in in a row, quite an achievement. The Langton Homestead property itself is the most suitable in all Plantagenet Shire for viticulture. It is also some of the oldest country to be settled by pioneers who grazed and established fruit trees. Only the best land was selected by these early settlers and Langton was their prime choice. Highly evocative of the classically French style in Cabernet Merlot, a match to hotpots or braised cheek.

Gnangara, pronounced nan-gara, is a reference to the underground spring which nourishes much of the fertile region surrounding the original Evans & Tate wineworks. The perpetually replenished vines yield grapes with great flavour intensity and natural acidity, particularly from sites around Manjimup and Pemberton. The freshness of lime zest comes from Manjimup, Pemberton contributes vital slatey and grassy characters.

After an exhaustive search to isolate the finest site for Margaret River viticulture, John Evans and John Tate planted vines on a piece of land along the northern bank of Wilyabrup River. One of Evans & Tate's most enduring labels, drawing fruit from across all of West Australia's premier winegrowing precincts, Gnangara have consistently delivered opulent, mouth filling red wines which are charged with the definitive west coast style and charm. Cuisine? Match Gnangara with a cut of yearling beef and dressed in porcini and wine sauce.

Established 1965, Forest Hill is the oldest cool climate vineyard in Western Australia and the first ever commercial planting in all of Great Southern. This solidly structured Shiraz demonstrates the virtues of a region that's endowed with an outstanding potential to craft the most intensely structured Rhone style wines. A medium bodied, fleshy style, Forest Hill displays white pepper and subtle spice on the palate enhanced by delicate toasty vanilla and perfumed Burgundian oak flavours, fine chewy tannins and a full firm finish.

Forest Hill's experience with Riesling dates back forty years to when the first two acres of vine anywhere within the Great Southern region were established. One of the most precious sites planted to the superior terrains around Denmark, it was selected by Dr John Gladstone, one of the pioneers of West Australian viticulture, later acquired by Robert Holmes à Court. Nothing short of exquisite, a fine acid structure will see it evolve beautifully, clean varietal fruit and softness make it a perfect match today alongside Thai prawns in ginger, chilli and lime.

Mount Barker shares an uncanny confluence of soils and clime with the world's great Malbec regions, the unique gravelly terroirs of Bordeaux, the nether latitudes and invigorating elements of Mendoza. Malbec was planted at Forest Hill in the 1990s, now in their third decade of productivity, they yield the rare quality of Malbec that merits bottling as a pure varietal wine. Multi dimensioned and structured, an intensity of blackcurrant, cherry and cloves, its well proportioned palate lined with mocha, supported by the softest tannins, resolving on a lingering, black olive finish.

Forest Hill is a Great Southern of class and distinction, a Chardonnay of elegance and controlled intensity. Aromas of ripe peach and apricot are complemented by light citrus, hints of vanilla, dry fig and perfumed lifted Burgundian oak introduce a style with rich intense full palate backed by pleasant hints of roasted almonds and butterscotch. The product of choice fruit from a great vineyard, the recommended match to salt & pepper squid, a combination that will amalgamate its savoury notes with the fine acid structure and complexity of such a vibrant wine.

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.

Forest Hill work hard at extracting the best possible Shiraz out of Block 9. Better soil maintenance with no herbicides and more composted material, while leaf plucking is applied earlier in the season and more diligently. The maturity of the vines, management of the property and evolution in the quality of fruit all impact on the excellence of the finished wine. Its long and fine, chewy structure is dominated by bold varietal fruit characters, while the background gamey nuances intensify the palate, along with subtle earthiness and sweet spice undertones.

At the core of Forest Hill's elite range of single block editions, are the original estate plantings of the 1960s and 1970s. These gnarly old vines are deep rooted and dry grown, defined by their low vigor and scant harvest of tiny berries, conspicuous for an intenity of flavour and wonderful crystalline textures. These are the earliest and most precious parcels of Chardonnay in all Great Southern, yielding a graceful yellow wine, brimming with golden peach and grapefruit characters, florals, almonds and flint, its powerful mineral finish driven by juicy, ripe stonefruit acidity.

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.

Forest Hill Vineyard is planted very close to Mt Barker, its unique topography, deep gravel soils and proximity to the Southern Ocean assures mild summers with cooling southerly breezes. Identified in the 1970s by gentleman James Halliday as the most outstanding Riesling of the Australian west, Block 1 is a sacred old parcel, one of the first ever planted in Great Southern. Wild yeast fermented for richness and complexity, vibrant and crisp with juicy natural acidity, Block 1 sings of its Mount Barker provenance, a long, lingering, flinty finish in a graceful, old vines, Riesling way.

With an abundance of clean water and healthy vines set against a backdrop of karri and jarrah forests, the picturesque Fonty's Pool vineyards are named after a huge dam built in the 1920s. Originally a vegetable farm which operated for over a century, the property was identified by the Cape Mentelle winemaking team as an outstanding site for growing wine grapes. A lively fruit driven style was achieved by handling the fruit with care and respect. Partial barrel fermentations and wild yeasts have enhanced the wine with texture and complexity.

Discovering an unoaked Chardonnay with full palate and fine textures can be a pleasant surprise.

For those who like their Chardonnay in the big boned euro style, mesmerisingly layered in complexity and flavour, richly barrel fermented in a high proportion of new French oak, followed by ten months building palate texture and infusing interest as it ages over gross yeast lees. Angelo and Wendy Diletti selected the Castle Rock site in 1981, with a view to creating a range of superlative wines which express the opulence of Albany's magnificent maritime clime. Brimming with stonefruits, meal and brulee, the Chardonnay of choice to accompany white meat recipes, fresh fishes or fowl.

The propitious vines are enthused by the scents of lofty karri tree blossoms, to yield harvests of the ripest, most flavourful grapes, intense with ripe brambleberry characters and redolent with the piquant cologne of local gums. Castelli make a Cabernet Merlot accord which expresses the magnificence of the Great Southern mesoclime, its lifted bush fruit aromaticness, velvet tannins and divine French oak, make a match to the finest gourmandise, game bird recipes, pate, pork and veal terrines or emmentaler gratin.

The Castelli brothers are highly accomplished international engineers with a no expense spared approach to making great wine. Choice harvests from superlative vineyards at Frankland River and Mount Barker are assembled for an outstanding construct of Shiraz. Frankland River contributes rich mulberry flavours, Mt Barker adds complexity and spiced black pepper characters. An attractive earthy richness is at the core of the fine boned, textural palate, the oak is seamlessly integrated with the layers of fruit, all supported by fine, savoury tannins.

The Rieslings of the greater Porongurup and Mount Barker regions are known for their unassailable structure and penetrating fruit character. They have a style all their own and compare favourably to the classics of Australia's most prestigious appellations. Castelli treat their fruit with an urgency that's aimed at snap preserving the excellence of Great Southern Riesling. Treating the juices with delicacy and respect achieves a marvelous wine of complex floral and stone fruit perfumes, supported by a focused palate of pensive intensity and textural minerality.

Pemberton makes intense Chardonnay, textural and rich in the style of the timeless classics from the grand vineyards of the old world. Fashioned to the luxurious regimens of barrel ferments and lees stirring battonage, Castelli make a big Chardonnay wine of lifted nutty spice complexity, gunflint and minerality, power, elegance and exquisite length, all supported by sound structure and nougaty French oak. Ageworthy if you are prepared to wait, sublime drinking right now alongside the finest white meats, dressed with creamy white sauces, truffles and morel.

The magnificence of choice harvests Frankland River and Mount Barker, Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon, are assembled into an exquisitely perfumed wine of defined, muscular structure and elegant, supportive tannins. Impenetrable blackberry and bramble fruit, liquorice and cassis, are all framed by its length of fine layered tannins and polished new oak. An outstanding construct, from one of the most superlative Cabernet growing appellations on the continent, Castelli offers the excellence and grace to accompany the finest gourmandise.

Fashioned from the pick of fruit, harvested off the superlative Omodei Vineyard at Pemberton. Vinified from the purest free run pressings, treated to extended skin contact, fermented to complete dryness in a selection of seasoned and new, Fontainbleu French oak barriques, on gross solids for optimal textural richness. Castelli have captured the beguiling essence of the drier Loire Valley Fumé Blanc style, something new transpires and evolves with every sip.

A fortuitous confluence of vineyard terroir and microclime clime, conspire to achieve harvests of the most superlative Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, choice parcels which can translate into wines displaying refined balance between stately elegance and controlled power. Extended maturation on yeast lees has infused luxurious nutty brioche characters and evolved fruit richness, creaminess of mouthfeel and astonishing persistence of bead. The freshness and brightness of this engagingly complex sparkler belies its age.

Follow the Australian continent's final sunset to the home of Cartwheel. Intrepid winemaking maestro Sam Glaetzer left his beloved Barossa to take his pick of Western Australia's fruit, vineyards which are renowned for producing harvests of the finest Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc. A sub tropical climate surrounds the vines, blown by three maritime winds which ensure cool dry summers and wet winters, idyllic for growing the crisp, flavoursome grapes which are destined to be crafted into Western Australia's most popular and refreshing style of white wine.

The balmy vineyards of Great Southern are paradise on earth for the formulation of soft and approachable Cabernot Merlot blends. Cartwheel have inducted a canon of harvests from choice vineyards selected on the basis of good varietal definition, Cabernet Sauvignon with solid structure and sleek tannins, vinified alongside parcels of Merlot with luscious fruit flavours.

Dutch explorer Gulden Zeepaard was not the first tall ship to chart the coast of Western Australia but she did predate Captain Cook by a century and a half. Today, Gulden Zeepaard's logo adorns the label of West Cape Howe. Headquartered within the grounds of their undulating home vineyard at Mount Barker, the West Cape Howe team collate parcels of Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc from across the finer viticultural precincts of the Australian west, for the construct of an intense wine which would unnerve its laureate siblings from across the Tasman.

From the precious Margaret River soils of Cape Leeuwin, to the balmy, richly endowed vineyards at Cape Howe, harvests of the finest fruit are brought to the estate wineworks near Mount Barker and assembled into a range of distinctly West Australian wines with an unparalleled reputation for quality and consistency. An intensely aromatic accord of Cabernet and Merlot, in an augustly brambleberried, structured and ebullient West Australia styling.

Great Southern runs inland from the coast along Western Australia's nether region. The sibling maritime mesoclimes and warmer inland sites can vary, from something very like those of Margaret River to conditions which may be familiar to winemakers from Geelong. Scotchmans Hill have identified sites with the ideal conditions to deliver Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc grapes displaying brisk fruit characters and requisite varietal qualities. A chic young wine with excellent weight of palate in the essential fruit driven style of a classic dry white.

When the Scotchmans Hill team embarked on a pursuit to acquire the finest parcels of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon in Western Australia, they discovered the magnificent national park of Cape Le Grand. White sandy beaches, crystal clear waters, the most magnificent wildflowers and sunbathing kangaroos were the added bonus in determining the choicest fruit.

Bellarmine is a fully endowed, auspicuously high quality vineyard that yields restrained, savoury wines full of good flavour and fine balance. Since inaugural vintage, Bellarmine has been recognized for its stunning wines which have earned impressive critical acclaim. The property is an elevated site with gravelly laterite soils, established by Dr Willi Schumacher and his wife Gudrun. The couple are passionate about great wine and searched the world for a great site to plant vines before settling on the sensational property which is Bellarmine Vineyard.

Bellarmine are expert at Riesling and famously produce three different interpretations, each with its own story and appeal. One of very few vineyards in Pemberton to grow Riesling, no doubt indulging the German ancestry of proprietors Dr Willi and Gudrun Schumacher. Grapes are exclusively sourced from the estate property, planted by hand in 2000, vines are trained to receive maximum exposure from sunshine throughout the growing season.

Bellarmine jugs were used throughout the middle ages to carry wine from oak cask to table. The Bellarmine property at Pemberton was planted entirely by hand, vines were trained from ground up, to expose the ripening grapes to optimal sunshine. The terroirs and clime here are a Chardonnay maker's dream come true. Soils are red gravel laterite, offering excellent drainage while providing warmth to the vine root systems at night, courtesy of heat that the gravels have absorbed during the day. A lightly oaked wine, highly evocative of the dry and fruity Chablis style.