Leconfield Elysian Springs Barristers Block Dandelion Longview Cantine Vitevis Bartali Zonte's Footstep Best Wine Deals

A premium alternatives pack which we think is a bit of a no-brainer. We kick off with the following four Aussie alternatives. After Five's 5 trophy winning Barossa Montepulciano, which is as good a Monte we have ever seen. From Kilikanoon, their stunning, $96, 96 point, flagship Grenache. Artis brings us a magnificently perfumed Nero and Songlines, an old vine, 100% whole bunch Barossa Grenache. Then we have a Riserva Chianti from the low yielding and fabulous 2020 vintage, and a densely powerful Rioja, made by one of just 2 producers who are more than a century old. These are all excellent and we've no doubt you'll have as much fun with them as we do..

A fresh alt-red pack, including a cracker from France and a corker from Italy. We've got straight varietals here and blends, and the following can be found herein:

Corvina, Rondinella and Molinara from Bardolino in Italy.

Grenache, Shiraz and Mourvèdre from the tiny Rhône sub-region of Gadagne in France.

Sangiovese and Lagrein from South Oz.

Grenache, Shiraz and Mataro (AKA Mourvèdre) from Turkey Flat in the Barossa.

Touriga from WA.

Plus a multiple award winning Durif (aka Shiraz on Steroids) from Curtis Family Vineyards.

All lovely, and yours for just $20 a bottle.

The Noble Grape is a bit on the nose at the moment.

Perceived by some as being bony, hard of tannins and shy of revealing fruit, Cabernets are long way from their heyday of 20 years ago, when they outsold Shiraz. These days, the willingness to cellar, always Cabernet friend isn't really there, and 'good to go right now' wines are in ascendancy.

BUUUUUT ... we love it dearly and know that with the right fruit and the right gifted winemaker, assertively angular tannins and bony acidity make way for ethereal perfumes, generously jubey fruit and a massive smile on the head of whoever is drinking them. So here's a 'no bones' and 100% beautiful baker's doz of Cabernet for your consideration.

2 stunners from Kilikanoon lead the way and Briar Ridge's complex, Halliday 95 pointer slides in effortlessly behind. Ditto, Dandelion's 96 point Coonawarra beauty, Longview's Trophy winning stunner and Dowie Doole's tiny production, 96 point work of genius. These really are all magical- just double decant an hour or so before drinking!

Oh, the 13th bottle!?

Cab is well known for ageing beautifully, so we've scrounged around and found a small quantity of Zonte's Blackberry Patch Cab from 2017. It's drinking beautifully and we doff our Cab to it!