Region: Australia, Langhorne Creek

Grape variety: Cabernet Sauvignon

Background: A collaboration of industry veterans Ben Glaetzer, Scott Collet, Grant Tilbrook and Nick Keukenmeester who have developed Heartland into an award-winning winery, since producing the first vintage in 2001. They embrace the best Australian fruits and create wines of balance and texture with a uniquely Australian identity.

Tasting notes: Look for layers of dark fruit that build in the glass with ever sip. This is complimented by black spice, olive tapenade and dried herbs and offset with chalky tannins and a rock-solid structure.

Reviews

Ken Gargett - Wine Pilot - 94 Points: "Director's Cut Cabernet Sauvignon 2018 - Another superb Langhorne Creek red, this is all class. Old vine Cabernet is harvested at night in order not to lose any freshness. Initial skin contact and seven days cool ferment on the same yeasts as used for the Shiraz. The wine is hand-plunged three times daily. Maturation then occurs in oak hogsheads, 75% new, for 14 months. Ben Glaetzer has been quoted as suggesting that this might be the finest vintage he has experienced from the region. It shows. Opaque red in colour, this has notes of dried herbs, leather and animal skins with tobacco leaf, blackberries and cloves. Seamless, juicy and concentrated, it is finely balanced with satiny tannins. Gorgeous on the palate. This is fabulous stuff now but has many years ahead of it, if you prefer hiding some away in the cellar."

Tony Love - Halliday Wine Companion - 94 Points: "Ripe cabernet aromas from the outset. A full-bodied and chocolate-rich palate, fleshy and grapey as well. There's a blueberry and licorice pop to the mid palate as the wine opens with a little time in a decanter. Will gather more interest in its expression over the next 5 years."

VEGAN