2013 Wirra Wirra, Church Block Cabernet Sauvignon/Shiraz/Merlot, McLaren Vale, South Australia (£13.49, reduced to £10.79, until 20 September, Waitrose).
My 100 Best Australian Wines Report for 2016/2017 declares that this wine is the "finest value McLaren Vale blend of all". I list the price as £14 and then tell readers to "watch out for deals". Well, this week I am doing the sleuthing for you because Waitrose has chopped a chunk out of the price of this awesome red blend, making it a dead cert for your cellar.
I have tasted older vintages of Church Block and it is remarkable how well it ages. It serves to underline the fact that top-end Australian reds have an innate balance that baffles our palates, drinking well in their youth and then hanging on, often for decades, and never seeming tannic or coarse.
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The succulence and persistence is incredible in fact, it is unique in my experience. Church Block derives its class from the amalgam of cabernet, shiraz and merlot grapes that it uses in its blend, and it harnesses only the most alluring elements of each of these grapes and then weaves them together seamlessly on the palate. Decant this wine and present it to even the most fastidious and snobbish of wine bores and they will melt with joy. Don't let on that it cost you a tenner and the game is complete.
Matthew Jukes is a winner of the International Wine & Spirit Competition's Communicator of the Year (MatthewJukes.com).
