2005 Boschendal Le Pavillon Chardonnay-Semillon: This blend of 80 per cent Chardonnay and 20 per cent Semillon creates a rich but balanced wine with fresh fruit flavours of peach and citrus finishing with a hint of sherbet. Amazingly, it also weighs in at 15 per cent alcohol, which surprised me because it isn't at all blowsy or over-blown.
2004 Brampton Cabernet Sauvignon A gorgeous, deeply-hued, hedonistic wine with mouth-filling flavours of toasty oak, blackberries, creamy caramel and kirsch. It's also ripe, sweet and succulent with good tannic structure, acidity and no lack of length. Definitely not a shrinking violet at 14.5 per cent ABV.
2003 Eagle's Cliff Reserve Shiraz In my book, this superb Shiraz has a slight Aussie drawl to it with its big sweet brambly fruit and overtones of vanilla, leather and spicebox. So it's very much in the New World mould at 14.5% ABV.
2005 Brampton Sauvignon Blanc I'm a big fan of South African Sauvignon Blanc, particularly when it's this kind of benchmark quality. This is clean, fresh and classic, in the Kiwi style, with lovely passionfruit aromatics followed by unoaked flavours of asparagus, gooseberries and tropical fruits to round it off. The ABV on this is 14.5 per cent.
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