Jacob’s Creek Centenary Hill, Barossa Valley Shiraz 1997, Jacob’s Creek Steingarten Barossa Riesling 2002, Tanca Farra 2001, Sella & Mosca Cantina and L’Explorateur Shiraz, Barossa Valley, Colonial Estate 2004
Jacob’s Creek Centenary Hill, Barossa Valley Shiraz 1997, €39.95. Jacob’s Creek is known for its very drinkable and reasonably priced wines. This is a premium offering as part of its Heritage series. And excellent it is too. Made from old vines, Centenary Hill has an enticing but not overpowering perfume of soft fruit and spice. This elegance and restraint carries on in the mouth and in the lavish finish. From: O’Briens
Jacob's Creek Steingarten Barossa Riesling 2002, €24.95. I was quite underwhelmed by this at first, but there are a lot of subtle things going on here, again marked by restraint, elegance and good balance. Neither of these two wines is in your face. The Riesling's faint lemon notes and softish mineral backbone make this a very laidback pleasure. From: O'Briens
Tanca Farra 2001, Sella & Mosca Cantina, €20-€21. This Sardinian medium-bodied equal parts blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cannonau (the Sardinian name for Grenache) has vanilla and raisins on the nose, a silky texture and a full finish, with hints of chocolate. And it tastes as good as it sounds. From: The Yacht, Clontarf; The Grapevine, Dalkey and Booterstown; McCabes, Blackrock and Foxrock; Claudios, Drury Street; No One Vintage, Goatstown
L'Explorateur Shiraz, Barossa Valley, Colonial Estate 2004, €22.50: Jonathan Maltus is the man behind the hot St Emilion property that is Château Teyssier.This wine is part of his Australian venture and it is a big spicy burst of concentrated blackberry fruit shows that there is real method and skill behind the hype. From: Jus de Vine, Portmarnock; The Vintry, Rathgar; Deveneys, Dundrum; McCabes, Blackrock; Cellars "The Big Wine Warehouse", Naas Road; McHughs, Kilbarrack and Malahide Rd; Sheils Off Licence, Malahide; Gibneys Off Licence, Malahide; Hollands Off Licence, Bray.