James Halliday – Binder's malt chocolate tannins melt across this powerful wine's attack of dark fruit flavours and spice: plum, dark cherry, mace and five-spice spring to the nostrils. There is nothing whatsoever jammy about this, with the kinetic fruit held tightly to the plush breast of all American oak and impeccably drawn out grape tannins. The end result is one of power, intensity and yet, a lingering impression of savouriness.

James Halliday – Has the same felicitous oak handling as its Shiraz sibling, even staring down the challenge of cabernet sauvignon. Mind you, it is a powerful cabernet, with a depth and range of cassis/blackcurrant/mulberry flavours tied to its bedrock of tannin, and does need patience.

The Wine Front – Medium bodied, red and black fruits, five spice, a little liquorice and gum leaf. It’s a lovely thing to drink – refined and seamless – with light tannin, cool acidity, fresh spicy berries, and a cool finish tinged with caramel, sap and spice.

James Halliday – 69% Coonawarra Menzies Ming D Block cabernet sauvignon, 25% Barossa Valley Nuriootpa shiraz planted 1901, 6% Eden Valley shiraz planted 1971. Wild ferment to start. Matured 21 months in 25% new French oak barriques and hogsheads. Yalumba began blending Coonawarra cabernet with Barossa shiraz more than a half century ago. This is one of the greatest expressions of this great Australian blend of recent decades. Perfect, compact, fragrant blackcurrant and blackberry fruit depth pauses time as it hovers motionless for minutes, propelled by the most intricate, chalk mineral framework of perfectly interlocked fruit and French oak tannins. A vintage to hark back to for another half century yet.