2015 The Coppermine Road Cabernet, McLaren Vale, d'Arenberg

What a boon the '15 vintage was. My mind snapped to attention as I tasted this wine. It's so perfectly pitched, all the components from the bouquet to the aftertaste lining up on the parade ground, split-second timing a la Chinese marchers. Cassis is permeated with fine-grained tannins and framed by oak, McLaren Vale chocolate absent - with leave.

Basket pressed, racked to new and used French oak, bottled unfined and unfiltered. Substantial cabernet. Super rips without (just) going too far. Dark chocolate, blackberry, asphalt and straps of licorice, sweet redcurrant. Firm no-nonsense tannin. Sprays of dry, aromatic herbs, flecked with dust. Such a sturdy wine. Substantial. The future is in its sights.

Impressive aromatic depth. Cassis, redcurrants, red plums, black fruit paste and some leaves and herbs. There's plenty here. The palate has a deep frame of sturdy tannins, which cuts neatly and decisively aroung ripe flavors of blackcurrants and blueberries.

The first vintage of this wine was the 1995. Twenty years later, the 2015 The Coppermine Road Cabernet Sauvignon boasts lovely varietal aromas of blue flowers, mint and dried herbs, and pure cassis. It's full-bodied, richly tannic and built for the long haul. Velvety, concentrated, dense and long, it should age well for a couple of decades. // One suspects that Chester Osborne, of flamboyant shirt fame, has grown his family's wine empire beyond all imaginings. The family purchased 160 acres in McLaren Vale in 1912 and built their winery in 1927; first crush was in 1928. Vineyard holdings now cover 500 acres. For years, much of the wine was sold in bulk to Penfolds. No doubt that helped shape the house style, as Osborne says, "I'm not shy of tannins." The bulk of the vast range revolves around McLaren Vale stalwarts like Shiraz, Grenache and Cabernet Sauvignon, but Osborne has expanded the range with offers as diverse as white Rhône-style blends, botrytis Riesling and (his latest) Mencía, which Osborne claims ripens later than Shiraz, hence avoiding the worst of the summer temperatures. His visionary Cube - a multisensorial exhibit/fine dining restaurant/tasting roomùmade waves when it was first proposed and has attracted a huge number of visitors since it was completed. Time constraints being what they are on trips like this, I didn't have a chance to try out the restaurant, where the average meal is something like ten courses and four hours. Maybe next time. Drink date: 2022 - 2035. Joe Czerwinski.

An inky dark red in colour, the nose is a beautiful rendition of Cabernet Sauvignon with blackberry and plum intertwined with cedar, graphite and black olive. The palate gives an array of black fruits that are backed by fine tannins with a faint dark chocolate and leather edge. The finish is driven by blackberry with prodigious length. A wine that will live for decades. Optimal Drinking 2018 - 2040. Patrick Eckel.

En af Australiens tørreste og saftigste Cabernet'er, et overflødighedshorn med solmodne solbær, cigarkasse og lang, afsluttende garvesyre. Den er tør af væsen, men har også plads til en lille druesødme, der holder til langt ud i eftersmagen. Den er stram i stil og smag og er kun til mad - og atypisk for South Australia smager den mere af cigarkasse og ristet egetræ end af solskin og sødme.