Barossa cabernet offered little to inspire until the cool season of 2002, and since then its trajectory has been breathtaking – primarily because its most talented practitioners seem to have learnt to draw out a varietal integrity hitherto unknown in this warm region. A wine like this plays an important role in your wine repertoire because it’s inherently richer in its black fruit presence than, say, Coonawarra or Margaret River, yet – and this is crucial – it’s no less accurate in its varietal expression. Excellent blackcurrant, cassis and leaf fruit are the themes here, with tightly clenched tannins and outstanding persistence of high cocoa dark chocolate texture. $40 at North Sydney Cellars.