"The Balnaves family, Coonawarra and Cabernet Sauvignon are concentric circles, indivisible from one another,” declares James Halliday. So true: they’re Coonawarra to the core. Doug Balnaves and children Kirsty and Pete were all born in Penola and the winery sits at the heart of the famous Terra Rossa strip, where Doug started planting vines in 1976. Former Qantas Winemaker of the Year Pete Bissell is the other essential piece of the puzzle, helping this producer to the title of James Halliday Winery of the Year in 2008. 

Includes 5.5% petit verdot, matured for 18 months in French oak (60% new). Counterintuitively, the wine is every bit as approachable now as its lower-priced siblings. The colour is superb, deep but brilliant, the bouquet laden with ripe cassis fruit, the palate threaded with streams of black fruits, firm tannins and high quality oak. Already a great wine, and it has only just begun its journey. Drink to: 2054; Price: $105.00; Date Tasted: Feb 2016; Alcohol: 14.5%; Rating: 96 Points; James Halliday Wine Companion