Antinori Tenuta Guado al Tasso Il Bruciato 2023
Deep ruby-purple. Generous nose of blackberry, dark plum, sweet spice and Mediterranean herbs over a savoury graphite-and-tobacco backbone. Full-bodied with polished tannins, a juicy dark-fruit core and a long, structured finish lifted by Bolgheri's coastal freshness. A Cabernet-led Bolgheri Rosso designed for early drinking but with good cellaring potential — excellent with grilled red meats, wild boar ragù or aged Pecorino.
Groot Constantia Gouverners Reserve Red 2021
The Groot Constantia Gouverneurs Reserve Red 2021 is a South African red blend from the Constantia region, featuring notes of blackcurrant, dark chocolate, and cedar. It is a full-bodied, complex wine with a firm structure and aging potential, made primarily from Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot.
Bodega Norton Privada Family Blend 2023
The Bodega Norton Privada Family Blend 2023 is an Argentine red wine from the Luján de Cuyo, Mendoza region, composed of 40% Malbec, 30% Merlot, and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon. It is aged for 16 months in French oak, resulting in a deep ruby-red wine with aromas of ripe fruit, spice, and vanilla, and a rich, full-bodied palate with smooth tannins. The wine is praised for its complexity and is often paired with red meats and aged cheeses.
Tignanello 2022
Tignanello 2022 a flagship wine from Antinori is intensely ruby red in color with purple hues. The wine opens impressively with aromas of cherries, ripe black cherries and pomegranate seeds with delicate notes of violets that lead to fresh balsamic hints. The bouquet is completed by elegant hints of vanilla and cotton candy. Supple savory tannins impart a dynamic impact on the palate, dense yet fresh. The wine closes with a lengthy finish that echoes aromas perceived on the nose.
✅ Critical Scores & Highlights
James Suckling gives it 96 points, commenting:
“There’s extraordinary energy in this wine. It displays a dark nose of black cherries, bramble fruit, violets, forest, licorice, bark, carob and leather. Density and tension dominate the full-bodied palate, with firm, velvety tannins. It’s slightly austere in the finish at the moment, yet it’s crunchy and full of potential. Try from 2026.”
Vinous (Antonio Galloni) awards 95 points, stating:
“The 2022 Tignanello is such an elegant, poised wine. Brisk acids cut through a core of red Sangiovese fruit. Crushed flowers, mint, cinnamon, rose petal and a kiss of French oak appear later, adding notable brightness. The 2022 is a decidedly mid-weight Tignanello, but all the elements are very nicely balanced throughout.”
Falstaff gives it 96 points, with tasting notes mentioning rich nose of blackberry, blueberry, marjoram and some mint, precise tannins and density.
Wine Spectator gives around 94 points, describing it as “fresh, elegant and long… give this a year or two to integrate.”
Glenelly Lady May 2020
Glenelly Lady May 2020
Crafted from the best Bordeaux components of 2020, it reveals rich dark berry aromas with hints of mocha and cedar on the nose. The palate offers sweet fruit flavours, smooth tannins, and a long, refined finish.
Lady May is Glenelly’s flagship estate wine. The 2020 Bordeaux blend pays tribute to the pedigree of its legendary owner. In honour of May de Lencquesaing’s 100th birthday, a special-edition label graces the Lady May 2020 vintage. A rare collector’s item for your cellar.
GRAPE VARIETIES : 59% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Franc, 5% Petit Verdot
Tim Atkin MW 2024 96 Points
Neal Martin – Vinous 2024 93 Points
James Suckling 2024 94 Points
Yarra Yering Dry Red No. 1 2019
Yarra Yering Dry Red No. 1 2019
Fruit power is the hallmark of this blend, dark berry fruits and some sage adding a background herbal lift. Christmas cake mixed spice and a whisper of oak; all in balance. Beautiful fruit, a bright acid drive and tannins that form a solid foundation for a long future. Brooding but not intimidating, always exciting to watch evolve.
Varietals: 67% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 12% Malbec, 6% Petit Verdot
Reviews
3 Merit Wine – The Real Review Wine Classification of Australia
Wine of The Year, Halliday Wine Companion 2022
Red Wine of The Year, Halliday Wine Companion 2022
Best Cabernet & Family, Halliday Wine Companion 2022
99 Points – Tyson Stelzer, WBM (Aust Wine Business Magazine)
98 Points – Halliday Wine Companion 2022
96 Points – Huon Hooke, The Real Review
Gold Medal, Sydney Royal Wine Show 2021
17/20 – Tamlyn Currin, JancisRobinson.com 2025
Anthonij Rupert Optima 2021
ANTHONIJ RUPERT OPTIMA 2021
37% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, 28% Cabernet Franc, 6% Malbec
Tendrils of spice add nuance and allure to a nose packed with black berries, hedgerow fruit and some mocha notes. The palate is plush, rounded and pillowy but layered with dark fruitcake flavour, black cherry, baking spice and pencil shavings too. The mouthfeel is complemented by its overall stature and regal refinement. Balanced with seamless integration of oak and ripe, rich fruit with lovely succulence and freshness as well. Complex, supple and silky smooth, the wine is ultimately simply delicious with a superbly long tail
Le Riche Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 2022
Le Riche Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 2022
Violets, pencil shavings, accents of cigar and pepper this is shows upfront charm but with real seriousness and tension on the palate. There is a vibrancy and juicy cassis profile on the palate with a beautiful line of minerality. Finely etched tannin that melts into the fruit, this is a generous and compelling Cabernet from one of the most exciting producers of the Cape at the moment.
Glenelly Estate Reserve 2017
Glenelly Estate Reserve 2017 is the signature red blend of Glenelly inspired by the classic Claret style of the 1700s, with Cabernet Sauvignon as its backbone, delivering rich cassis, mulberry, cedar, and tobacco notes. Syrah adds red and black cherry flavors with a touch of black pepper spice on the mid-palate. The wine is complex, layering intense fruit with mocha, Christmas cake, sandalwood, and leather. Fresh, fruity acidity balances firm tannins, leading to a clean, dry finish with strong aging potential.
GRAPE VARIETIES 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Merlot, 12% Syrah, 7% Petit Verdot, 5% Cabernet franc
91/100 Decanter World Wine Awards 2023: Silver Medal
90/100 International Wine Challenge 2023: Silver Medal
93/100 Tim Atkin MW Special South Africa Report 2021
Meerlust Cabernet Sauvignon 2021
Meerlust Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 is about completeness, and about structure; balance and harmony; about a mannered, agreeable charm that holds one with both the gentle finger-clasp of flirtation and the needy grip of seduction.
The wine has an evocative maritime, oyster-shell aroma, notes often found in well-schooled Cabernet Sauvignon, but mostly on wines of greater maturity. The saline scent, however, quickly gives way to broody, shadowy notes of autumnal fruit and brittle sun-dried cedar.
Upon the first taste the immediate presence and the wine’s commanding structure leads to a comparison of this Meerlust Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 with some forms of non-consumable beauty. Evocative statuesque images that came to mind are a Michelangelo statue sculpted from Carrara marble; a leopard on its haunches, the golden spotted hide glowing in the late-afternoon sun as its coiled muscles await signals from the mind to unleash the body onto hapless prey; tennis goddess Aryna Sabalenka pummelling a cross-court forehand past a frozen opponent.
In this wine, the muscled tannins have been sculpted into forms of grace and beauty that bear the whole body from the beginning of the sip to the final sappy throes of its finish. The experience is all encompassing, riveting dense beams of classic wine-flavoured elegance covered with plush, broad layers of dark-fruited tapestries where plum, mulberry and blackcurrant are – at this stage of its development – discernible.
But the lasting impression of Meerlust Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 is the way the wine appears polished to a state of clarity and purity, placing it a long way down on the road to the unachievable destination of perfection. No wine will ever get there, but the distance Meerlust has reached is one only attainable by a remarkable few.
Rupert and Rothschild Classique 2021
Rupert and Rothschild Classique 2021 is the second vintage to include Cabernet Franc in the blend, which lifts the texture making for a more elegant wine, although Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon still dominate the assemblage. This is Classique at it’s best and after 16 months in French oak and a few years in the bottle this vintage is singing! A complex and smoky nose starts off with roasted coffee, cassis, black cherry and earthy spice. The palate is medium to full bodied with seamless tannins and just enough acidity to retain freshness. There’s ripeness and richness on the palate, but it’s not overworked or overripe, it’s balanced and very well made. The wines of Rupert and Rothschild seem to get better with every passing vintage, and Classique 2020 certainly supports that theory.
92/100 Deano da Vino
