The Yarra Valley is characterised by cool weather patterns and slow consistent ripening conditions, enhancing the fruit with complex flavours. With a proud history of winning competitions, including Trophy at the Royal Melbourne for Best Victorian Red, Lillydale was amongst the very first Yarra Valley estates to emerge during the rekindling of interest in Australian table wines during the 1970s. The climes around the estate's Morning Light and Sunnyside vineyards yield fully ripened, well concentrated and elegantly flavoured black grapes.

Prelude can lay claim to the most praiseworthy vineyards in Margaret River, for a world class Cabernet Merlot wine which measures up to, or surpasses it's sibling rivals in the Medoc. Margaret River can boast of a rare confluence of topography and terroir which form a mesoclime very like Bordeaux, along with a rare consistency of weather patterns each year, to deliver the quality of wine which Bordeaux can offer only in the finest vintages. An elegantly poised Cabernet Merlot accord with exciting graphite mineral complexity at the finish.

The majority of vineyard blocks contributing fruit for Howling Wolves are bordered by towering eucalypt trees that influence the grapes to develop distinctive qualities which are a trademark of Margaret River. This is particularly recognizable in the red varietals which take on unique mint and gum leaf characters. A spell of ageing under fine French oak further infuses the palate with vanilla bean and light spice.

Howard Park is always the result of the most stringent selection criteria all the way from vineyard to bottle, only the finest fruit and most perfect ferments are included. Extremely high quality parcels of fruit were identified on the vine, two harvests of Great Southern and Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon, assembled alongside a small block of exceptional Pemberton Merlot.

Excellent Langtons Classification. Cyril was the fourth generation of Henschke winemakers, a visionary who bottled the original Hill Of Grace and formulated one of the world's great Shiraz. Cyril acquired his Eden Valley vineyard in 1966, establishing a large planting of predominantly Riesling and Shiraz at a time when bonuses were being paid by national brands for the popular varietals. Smaller plantings of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot followed, unfashionable at the time, they have become essential components to the final mix of fruit in Henschke Cyril.

Excellent Langtons Classification. Mostly Cabernet with a minor component of Merlot, all grown to the Henschke Eden Valley property. Cyril was the fourth generation of the Henschke family, one of Australia's great winemaking pioneers and the man who in 1958 created the wine that has so captured the heart of red wine drinkers around the world, Hill of Grace. By the mid 1950s Cyril Henschke was well acknowledged as one of the leading pioneers in the Australian wine industry. He recognised the quality of Eden Valley fruit to be superior to that of the popular Barossa.

An opulent accord of the most superior single vineyard Adelaide Hills Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, picked off Stephen and Prue Henschke's exceptional site at Lenswood. This eminently distinguished vineyard was established among the historical homesteads along Coldstore Road by the first settler T N Mitchell in the late 1800s, these prestigious parcels are known to locals as Abbotts Flat. The property yields the most superlative quality Merlot to be found anywhere on the Adelaide Hills.

As the largest independent grower in Barossa Valley, Grant Burge has access to substantial harvests of the finest fruit, combined with the estate's economy of scale to deliver a superior quality of wine at every pricepoint. Parcels of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon are collated from Grant's very own vineyards, as well as sites owned and operated by distinguished Barossa growers. A wine of refinement and structure, a great match to a wide range of cuisine, beef ragu, barbequed meats and comforting tomato pasta recipes.

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.

Warburn Estate are fortuitously positioned near Griffith, right at the centre of Riverina winegrowing region, surrounded by the district's most salubrious vineyards. Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon have found a splendid new home within the sunny climes and highly favourable soils of Riverina, and Warburn can source the best fruit.

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.

Three choice acres of viticulture surrounding the Mount Hurtle wineworks, were established to a fortuitous planting of Reynella clone Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot vines in 1985. Picked to varying schedules of ripeness, they are vinified into a sensational accord of remarkable complexity and finesse. Matured an extravagant thirty two months in the choicest French oak hogsheads, Pimpala Vineyard is redolent with a prominent Cabernet nose of cassis, black olives and mint, its affable, muscular tannins in support of Merlot plummyness, dark brambles and pastille.

Freycinet Vineyard is situated on Tasmania's sunny eastern coast, approximately halfway between Launceston and Hobart. The philosophy is to keep things simple, to make a wine as big and as beautiful as possible, to allow the fruit of the vineyard to express itself with little human influence. Vines were established 1980 and yield limited harvests of the most intense fruit. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Franc are treated to the extravagance of eighteen months French oak, for a succulent Medoc style, redolent of black currant and bramble, olives, herb and cedar perfumes.

Fraser Gallop have successfully tamed the assertive tannins of sanguine Margaret River Cabernet with the inherent palate richness of the gentler Merlot. From unirrigated blocks yielding concentrated fruit, treated to the latest Turbo pigeur technologie from France, a lavish process which can pump whole intact grapes without grinding pulp and skins, leading to better homogenisation and extraction, translating into a wine of great vigor. Offers the structure for extended cellaring if you can resist it's abundant charms today.

Heel! Sit! Sometimes simple commands are the answer, nothing too technical, no putting on airs and graces, no fuss. Just right for pups who enjoy a lively wine. Pups like this are unrestrained yet house trained, full of the simple pleasures. A joy to all and yet showing pedigree and character nurtured with expert care. A sniff and a lick will tell you there's fun to be had with this smooth Cabernet Merlot. Fetch! Grown and trained by a family infatuated by McLaren Vale, fine wines and curly coated retrievers. A silky smooth, more-ish modern Aussie red.

From one of Yarra Valley's most scenic sites, parcels of intensely favoured Cabernet Sauvignon, picked off fully mature vines, are vinified alongside a harvest of succulent Yarra Valley Merlot. Diamond Valley know from the luscious Bordeaux styles, having shown well at the Melbourne Federation Square Peoples Choice awards. A seamless accord of Cabernet and Merlot, endowed with genteel tannins and splendid length, from a tiny winery that puts quality before quantity.

Coriole was first developed by Geoffrey Kay, a distant relative of the Amery Vineyard Kays. Dr Hugh Lloyd GP sewed the vines which produce Mary Kathleen during a period when the fashion was to plant in contours around the local Seaview highlands. Named after the estate's matriarch, Mary Kathleen is crafted from three small blocks, originally planted in the 1960s. Perennially lauded and famously received, Mary Kathleen is generously mouthfilling with sweet fruit, earthy regional hints and complex spice.

Cookoothama means fertile land, an approachable accord of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon from fruit grown to a special site at Darlington Point on the Riverina. Employing the best of old world viticultural practices and new world technology, Nugan Estate charge their devoted team with the pleasant task of making wine of the highest order. The two hands on the label represent the people who have lived and cultivated soils which lie along the banks of Murrumbidgee River, transforming it into the salubrious property it is today.

A mostly Barossa wine fashioned at an ancient wineworks that was once Hardy's Siegersdorf. The remarkably approachable Cockatoo Ridge has seamless wood and fruit balance that seems to call for another glassful! Rich and soft, an equitable arrangement between two of the most compatible noble red varietals.

Charles Sturt University at Wagga Wagga saw its first plantings of vine in 1893. While today's students are very closely involved in the vitculture and elevage, the ultimate quality of wine is determined by a highly accomplished team of industry identities. Producing less than 10,000 dozen annually, the limited yields make possible, a highly selective sourcing of fruit and the most exacting standards of vinification. The result is a richly flavoured yet impeccably balanced accord of profound Cabernet Sauvignon structure in support of elegant Merlot succulence.

Directly across the top of Corsica on the Tuscan coast, the tourist town of Maremma hosts some of the most picturesque, sun drenched vineyards along the Tyrrhenian Sea. The region's sandy granite soils produce a lovely mineral style of wine, the dominant fruit characters Cabernet and Merlot are enriched by the influence of terroir. Treated to a short term of age in well seasoned oak, its supple savouryness and toothsome market garden flavours make an exquisitely structured wine of affable tannins and conspicuously universal appeal.

Catching Thieves make wines with so much style, you'll do just about anything to get your hands on them! The highly skilled McWilliams team have matched the nobility of Cabernet Sauvignon with the affability of Merlot, to achieve a succulent Margaret River wine of substantial style and flair. Catching Thieves is built to exude alluring dark berry plum characters, to be in fine balance and ultimately deliver a soft and flavourful, aromatic juicyness to the palate.

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 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.

West coast Cabernet Merlot has evolved into a discernible regional style and established an international reputation, a new genre of wine that's unique and very special indeed. Debut is drawn from harvests of the finest fruit, grown to good vineyards across the eminent winegrowing precincts of Western Australia. The aim is to fashion a profoundly fruit driven wine, that's supported by supple tannins and a supple veneer of oak, to match tomato meat pastas, gourmandise sausage or juicy cut of lamb.

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.

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.

Entourage is both adherent and partisan, an outspoken proponent, cast in the mould of the great Barossa Valley Estate's flagship E&E wines. The experience from generations of viticulture and a succession of internationally acclaimed vintages all play a role in the genesis of Entourage. Parcels of Barossa grown Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon are fashioned into a generously flavoured, forward drinking red wine with polished fruit and velvet tannins, realizing fully the vision of the growers, makers and entourage of devotees who contribute to the experience.

It was lunch in the vineyard as it ticked past 12 o'clock, when I saw a sight I'll never forget on that red soiled block. It started with a shuffle but turned into a dance. The boys shook about like they wanted out of their pants! As it turned out they were losing a fight. Trying to avoid the bullants, and boy can they bite. They ran from the block and couldn't be seen, until they returned much later with a can of Mortein! We've since dealt with those bullants and they no longer bite. But their memory still lingers when we pour a glass of Bullant each night.

Brookland Valley Estate made a conspiuous impression through their stirling efforts at Cabernet Merlot when they claimed several significant trophies, including the hotly contested Qantas Best Wine of Show. Expressing fully the generous palate structure and aromatic richness of the stylish Margaret River Cab Merlot accord, beautifully perfumed, bramble flavoured wine, brimming with the quality and elegance which has earned Brookland Valley Estate a five star reputation. A superior small batch wine that speaks eloquently of its Margaret River provenance.

Make a date with Brokenwood, an evening round the table with a comfort roast of your finest fare, savoured slowly alongside your favourite company and a bottle of the very best. Stylistically true to its McLaren Vale provenance, a seductive, textural accord of Merlot and Cabernet, its chocolatey, cherry ripe fruit character is cossetted by a cradle of supportive oak and length of ripe, sweet tannins. A lovely mellow wine, to accompany home baked, potato topped, steak and kidnie or red wine shepherd's pie.

A descendant of Coonawarra's oldest vines, Brand's Laira yields exceptional quality harvests of Cabernet Sauvignon which owe their provenence to historic plantings. The property played an important role in establishing Coonawarra's international reputation as Australia's most eminent red winegrowing region. Drawing fruit from superlative vineyards, including a single block which hosts the original 1893 vines, Brand's Laira is intensely varietal and displays the distinctive Cabernet Sauvignon style which has made Coonawarra famous.

Orchards flourish and thrive on the unfertile granites of Harcourt Valley. This is wine central for Bendigo's most superior and memorable vintages. The auspicious Blackjack vines are all hand pruned and hand picked, balmy indian summers, cool nights and clear days, permit the grapes to ripen slowly and fully, vintage typically occurs in late April to early May. A sensational and stylish accord of Merlot and Cabernet, somewhat more eloquent, a complex dry red of profound varietal definition and seamless fusion between fruit, tannins and oak.

One of Bendigo's salient marques, a wine of extraordinary personality, built around the prominent tannins of Cabernet Sauvignon, cushioned by the plummy softness from a smaller component of resplendent Merlot. The philosophy at Blackjack is to not interfere with the vinification, in a sense, to let the grapes and vintage do the talking. The overall character is determined by a unique combination of season and environment. A medium weighted, complex dry red with essential varietal definition and seamless fusion between fruit, tannins and oak.

Cabernet and Merlot are sourced from the Schrapel family vineyards at Bethany and neighbouring sites along the Barossa foothills. The Bethany property is replete with vines, decades old, which are very low yielding and produce fruit of great intensity and flavour. The special microclimate of the foothills is reflected in the bright, dark cherry colour, enticingly fragrant aroma and full flavoured, harmonious palate. The powerful structure of Cabernet is complemented by the suppleness of Merlot, a style which can be enjoyed fully whilst young.

Bannockburn was established with a view to treating the vineyard as the engine of great wines, to maximise the potential of the site and to achieve a genuine expression of the vineyard from vintage to vintage. In essence to capture the terroir of the place. Bannockburn is never a reflection of market fashion or trends. An exquisite assemblage of Cabernet and Merlot in opulent Bordelais styling, with an exemplary integration of pencilled oak, artisanally dovetailed fruit, splendidly drying acids and compassionate, supporting tannins.

Angus The Wee Bull is a collation of hand selected harvests, the finest of vintage Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, chosen on the basis of a synergy, to form a whole that is so much greater than the sum of parts. Each year the most promising parcels are fashioned into the ultimate meat eater's cuvée. The flexibility of an eclectic blending approach provides for great consistency from year to year, encouraging the finest expressions of each individual vineyard to be combined in the noble pursuit of sublime enjoyment.