Alpha Domus AD The Aviator 2007, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand (~£30 McKinley Vintners)
Complete, complex wine, with deep, dark berry, plum and blackcurrant flavours enhanced by an earthy, tobacco leaf character and a dense, almost savoury finish. Great combo of plushness with freshness, fine-grained tannins and great length, served the remnants to a 40-something friend later that evening: ‘this is the best wine I’ve ever had.’ S(+)

Wirra Wirra The Widow Hen Shiraz/Cabernet Sauvignon 2010, Adelaide, Australia (£9.99 Ocado)
Straight down the line Aussie blend, a cocktail of flavours – minty jammy dodgers, boiled sweets, touch of earth and leather, plummy red berry and black pepper, with a hint of tomato, silky but still has some chewy bite. B(+)

Errázuriz Max Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon 2010, Aconcagua, Chile (£13.99 Majestic, Waitrose, Wine Rack, Budgens, Ellie’s Cellar, Hailsham Cellars, Dunedin Wines, Cheers, Slurp, Bin 21, Evingtons, Constantine Stores)
Starts off in typical Errázuriz style, with aromas of blackcurrant pastilles and mint, and a touch of toasty oak, but then opens up when you taste it to show soft plummy berry. Good, but as with many wines from this stable, a slightly too-hard finish. B+

Nederburg Winemaster’s Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2010, Western Cape, South Africa (£9.99 Tesco)
Nearly pleasant, but in the background there’s always the tell-tale Cape bake character – underripe/overripe mix of greenness with baked berry and burnt jam. C

Kleine Zalze Vineyard Selection Cabernet Sauvignon 2010, Stellenbosch, South Africa (£13.99 Cambridge Wine Merchants, www.sawinesonline.co.uk, Beers Wines & Spirits, Sunninghill Wine, Matthew Clark)
Corked…