Cabernet Sauvignon at best is a deep-red wine with a firm structure from tannins which leave a grip or dryness in the mouth after you have swallowed it.
Flavours can suggest plums or berries, and there is often a hint of spice, cedar, chocolate or coffee from ageing in toasted oak.
Sometimes there's a vegetal hint, which adds excitement and complexity.
However, unripe grapes can make the vegetal character unpleasant and the wine thin and mean.
Cabernet sauvignon is best with red meats or full-flavoured vegetable or cheese dishes.
Although wine sent for review is tasted blind to eliminate preconceptions, all wine tasting and evaluation is subjective. These are personal recommendations. charmian.smith@odt.co.nz
With lively, generous spicy berry fruit with a hint of eucalypt and a firm finish, this red from South Australia is delicious.
Excellent value.
3 stars (out of 5)
Good value
Plums with a hint of dusty, freshly-sawn timber, but there's juicy fruit and a pleasant lifted finish.
2 stars (out of 5)
Average value
A dense concentrated wine with dark fruit, hints of coffee and chocolate, broad and soft in the mouth with firm, slightly grippy tannins and a lingering aftertaste.
An old-fashioned Australian red. Try with kangaroo or a juicy beef steak.
4 stars (out of 5)
Good value
Spicy berry fruit with a hint of jam, a suggestion of eucalypt and pencil shavings and a dry finish.
3 stars (out of 5)
Average value
Ripe, soft berry fruit with a hint of spice, dark chocolate and mint, but with an underlying firmness and a dry finish.
One of the most reliable, if pricey, Hawkes Bay reds.
4 stars (out of 5)
Poor value
Intense, generous fruit with hints of berries, malt, mint and spice, this is a stylish wine, powerful but in balance, with a firm tannic structure which leaves a dry grip on the finish.
At four years old it is mellowed and complex.
One of Western Australia's best.
5 stars (out of 5)
Average value
