Kilikanoon Wine Deals

A fabulous selection of alt reds with plenty of new stuff. The trophy winning Clare Grenache from Kilikanoon and the superb 95 point Durif from Curtis have been in our stable for a while. The new stuff? Magical old vine Grenache from Songlines and a superb old vine Mataro Grenache blend, both from the Barossa, both made by Tom White of Lone Palm fame! They are both superb. Also a couple of new to us Barossa beauties from White Gate. White Gate are low-fi, or perhaps more accurately, light touch. They work primarily with organic and biodynamic producers, pick early and make minimal additions to the wine during ferment and prior to bottling. They figure that starting with A-grade fruit and picking a bit earlier than the norm allows them to bypass a lot of the corrective work that has to be otherwise undertaken to ensure wine stability and longevity. As a bonus, this allows the fruit to really shine. The proof is in the pudding and we can heartily attest that the pud is good!

Every now and then a plan comes together. This time, it’s the creation of a reasonably priced Cab dozen with a discount of 65%

You’ll be getting 4 of Kilikanoon’s sumptuous 95pt Cab, 4 of Karl’s Scepter’s 94pt, complex and cedary Coonawarra Cab. 4 bottles also of Showblocks decadent $85 a bottle, 96 point McLaren Cab. Finally, we’ve managed to include a bot of Yaldara’s Grand Shiraz, a 96pt, $250 a bottle, Barossa stunner!

We are pretty confident this is the best Cab Family varietals pack we've ever put together. For $295 you'll be getting 2 bottles of Irvine's Grand Merlot, worth $300 - yep the one where 2 vintages have been awarded best Merlot in the world. Rest of the pack is compelling too - a couple of bottles of Kilikanoon Tregea Cab. This is their flagship Cabernet which retails for $96 a bottle. A couple of Dowie Doole's flagship Architect Cab, a $90 a bottle, tiny production stunner and arguably the best McLaren Vale Cab available right now. Showblock Cab... another 96 pointer. Rounding the pack out, a couple of bottles apiece of the Karl's Scepter Coonawarra and Barossa Cabernets - sure these might not be super premiums like the wines above, but they are very, very good; much better than quaffers. All up $995 worth for just $295.

We had a bit of a think about which wines are floating our boat the most at the moment from a cellared perspective. You know, where the tannins have softened a bit and some complexity is emerging but there is still a solid accent on fresh, primary fruit. We settled on five wines: a 96-pointer from Mitchell (The Peppertree), a 94-pointer from Angas King, Kilikanoon's trophy-winning Grenache, JJ Hahn's 96-pointer from a vineyard planted in the 1890s and a 96-pointer from McLaren Vale. These are bulletproof and will work when you crack 'em at home, as a gift, or for when you head around to friends for a catch up. That all seemed like we were making things a bit too easy, so we've given you some homework in the form of two bottles of Yaldara's 96 point, $250-a-bottle Grand Cuvee Shiraz. You could study these now, but you'll want to bust out the cheat notes (decanter) so you can get a good sense of what's going on here. Do that, and you'll find these very engaging and informative already. Failing that, stick 'em away for a decade or so!