5 wines to cellar (or enjoy now)
Whether you’re thinking about a big occasion - or just something on standby ready to celebrate one of life’s little victories - it’s always good to have a bottle or two lying in wait, somewhere cool and undisturbed.
But how do you know what’s going to be good to hold on to? Fear not - here’s five delicious in-stock recommendations for wines that are great now and will develop for another decade if you’ll let them.
Shiraz 2021 – Black Market Deal #48283
A stunning wine with 94pts from Halliday. Heathcote shiraz is very much a category that speaks loudly and proudly of place, as all great wine should. Ancient soils bleeding complexity and depth into the fruit. Warm, consistent summers allowing ripeness to develop gradually and deftly. And cool mountain breezes providing respite and refrain where bright acidity can be nurtured and retained. There is nothing simple or one-track about the fruit, it is richly complex and packed full of intrigue. The full spectrum of fruit on display - ripe red berries, high tone blue plum, brash and imposing black currant. Mocha, leather and French oak nuance lurk at the periphery, but this is The Fruit Show, ticket for one please. Will be fascinating to see this age.
Marco Lazzeretti Brunello di Montalcino 2018
This is not a wine for the faint of heart, with concentration, density and explosive flavour. This is our fourth vintage of this stunner and it’s been a hit with our mofos. Perhaps you’d open a bottle or two this year just to get a feel for the wine, but then lay the rest down to age. It’ll unwind beautifully as the years go on with absolutely no rush to pop a cork. Look out for blackberries, leather, forest floor, cherry, anise and pepper on the nose and palate. The tannins will be tightly wound and quite apparent now, but expect them to relax into the bottle as time goes on. This is true, timeless class ready to age - expect it to still deliver by 2035.
Cabernet Sauvignon 2017 – Black Market Deal #47941
We reckon this could be the best cabernet deal on the internet. Rarely do we see a wine that is so unanimously adored. When it comes to aged cabernet our of Margaret River, this is truly raising the bar - with 96 Halliday pts too. The 2017 vintage had it's challenges, but this wine and this producer bucked the trend entirely. This is a masterfully crafted, elegant-yet-powerful (thanks to that slightly higher ABV), age worthy Cab. We can't get enough of it (literally, we bought everything we could get our hands on and it won't be enough). Varietal in all the right ways; long, herbed, a touch twiggy, a lot brambly. Where it steps outside the mould a little, though, is in the density of the fruit. It borrows somewhat from the powerful fruit profiles of Coonawarra, but it doesn't shed its Margaret River finesse in doing so.
Château de Vaudieu Chateauneuf Du Pape 2020
This family run vineyard is located in the heart of Châteauneuf-du-Pape and is quite literally called the Valley of God (Val de Dieu). This family run vineyard is located in the heart of Châteauneuf-du-Pape and is quite literally called the Valley of God (Val de Dieu). Making wine for over 250 years, the soil is grown on gentle slopes with premium sunshine, which allows the grapes to turn rich and juicy. Resting in oak barrels for a year and a half before it gets put in the bottle, this wine is big, bold and fabulous. With intense flavours of dried cherry, leather and chocolate, we recommend pulling this one out for your fanciest dinner - either now or for the next decade.
Cabernet Sauvignon 2020 – Black Market Deal #44530
This is one of those bottles where sampling the wine turns into having the whole bottle over dinner. It’s THAT good. Halliday agreed, scoring this at 95pts. One of Margaret River’s best producers, one of the best vineyard sites in the region, and one of the best cabernets we’ve tasted in ages. Everything adds up to one absolutely spectacular wine. This is a wine that nails typicity top to bottom. The fruit profile is spot on with cassis, mulberry and blueberry. Secondary characteristics abound like chocolate, mint, cedar and graphite. There’s a confident structure, finesse on the palate and an extremely fine tannin profile on the prolonged finish. It’s just one of those wines where it’s too good to do justice in words, so we think you’re better off trying it yourself. And if you're patient enough, grab a case and crack a bottle every couple a years to see the journey it goes on too.
Want to make sure your wines are always good to go when you’re ready to sip? Check out our guide to storing and ageing wine.
Want something aged, now? Check out the Cellared Shiraz Selection 4.0.