Fine Wine Cellars

Jean-Paul Versino, who operates from his home on the south side of Châteauneuf, is emerging as a star of the region. His use of oak is idiosyncratic: he employs beermaking vats from Alsace, so well-used that there are scarcely any woody flavours left. This, however, his Grenache-rich top cuvée, was aged in small barrels for 2 years. A modern, powerful yet elegant expression of Châteauneuf: deep garnet in colour, with complex aromas of ripe berry fruits, damsons and herbs.

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Additional info: Domaine Bois de Boursan

Chianti will forever seem tame by comparison to this: soft, savoury, silky and bursting with cherry and raspberry fruit. Joe Ceravolo transplanted vines from Italy (his family moved from 35 degrees North to 35 South) to the fertile Adelaide Plains, having bagged a plot of prized 'terra rossa' soil over limestone. Helped by Wolf Blass winemakers the Glaetzer brothers, he struck Gold at the Sydney show for his first Sangiovese vintage. Try it, we say, with five spice-dusted grilled quail.

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Additional info: Ceravolo

A stunning blend of Malbec, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Arbouriou. Drink 2006 - 2010.

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Leaving behind careers in medicine and molecular biology, Doctors John and Brigid Forrest established Forrest Estate in Marlborough's stony Wairau River Valley in 1989. This cheery pair won a coup at their first vintage, scooping a trophy at NZ's national wine awards. This extravagantly rich red blend exudes aromas of dark chocolate cherry liqueurs and spicy oak. Great depth of spicy blackberry, plum and chocolate flavours. Try it with roast venison.

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Additional info: Forrest Estate

Crew-cut and businesslike (he's also a legal academic and runs a sizeable property portfolio) René Rostaing has made Côte Rôtie (elite northern Rhône Syrah plus a little Viognier) of stark purity at his brutally stylish Ampuis cellar since 1971. He was fortunate in inheriting many small plots, some containing century-old vines. His 1991, from several different vineyards, is fine yet forceful, with flavours of fresh red plums and bramble fruits supported by fine-grained tannins.

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Additional info: René Rostaing

Well-made, Cabernet-rich, classic Graves, full of red and black fruit flavours with a hint of green peppers. Pierre and Hélène Coste have been producing impressive, deeply fruity wines from their 12 hectare Graves estate for many years. They've also done sterling work at 180-year-old Graves property Château L'Etoile, which has swept up the quality rankings in recent vintages.

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Additional info: Château de Gaillat

In the mid-1990s, Philippe du Roy of Châteauneuf's famed Domaine de Villeneuve joined forces with consultant Philippe Cambie, seeking to produce 'authentic' (rather than flashy, souped-up and overblown) southern Rhône wines that owed their character to natural processes involving earth, vines, fruit, harvesting and winemaking. Gently-handled from vine to bottle, this spicy red, with classic peppery, meaty notes from the Cairanne region is as complex as Châteauneuf.

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Additional info: Domaine de Villeneuve

At their rustic Ampuis estate (where the eggs from happy free range chickens are used to filter wines), Jean François and Carmen Garon have been producing old-fashioned, gently-oaked, full-bodied Côte-Rôties since 1995. Soft and well-rounded, with subtle concentration of black fruit flavours, this appealing style is lovely with pan-fried duck breasts.

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Additional info: Domaine Garon

Chunk of mature Cheddar left in the fridge? Steak or casserole on the stove? Here's what you need. Deep, brooding black fruit flavours with hints of spicy American oak - the forgotten grape of Bordeaux hot-housed to perfection on the Adelaide Plains. Home to Italian market gardens and vineyards since the 1950s, the Plains have covertly contributed to wines the calibre of 'Grange'. Joe Ceravolo is bringing the region into view with prodigiously bemedalled wines like this.

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Additional info: Ceravolo

Impressively full-flavoured, rich and chocolatey, yet elegant and refined, with gentle toasty oak nuances; a wine for game. Vincent Girardin first strolled into our list in 1997 after we found that most of our favourites from 1996 were his. Based in Santenay, southernmost Côte d'Or village, he creates wines from his own vineyards and parcels of old vines in the Côte de Beaune. 2000 was excellent across the region; this has the 'grip' typifying wines from the 'Cras' vineyard.

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Additional info: Vincent Girardin