Comprising varietal wines of distinction, our Family Cellar range was created to be something special from the outset. The marriage of magnificent fruit from sustainable, old vineyards (over 50 years old) and traditional, hand-crafted wine-making techniques ensure beautifully balanced, elegant table wines that display a true sense of place. This 2009 Durif is deep inky-black in color displaying rich aromas and flavors of berries and licorices with dense tannins and classy French and American oaks. The red wine shows the typically intense color and body for which Rutherglen Durif is rightfully famous. Wine-making hand picked fruit is fermented and steeped on its skins for four weeks before gentle pressing. Durif has huge color and can be extremely tannic if not handled carefully so the technique of long maceration, where the skins are left soaking for weeks, does seem inappropriate at first. However, given long enough, the tannins begin to soften and the structure of the wine is surprisingly supple when the time finally comes to pressing. After pressing it spends 20 months aging in barrels. Durif is definitely a food wine and as a younger wine will partner richly flavored dishes such as braised lamb shanks where the tannins will complement the sticky character of the meat. An older wine will have softened and the resulting smooth palate and fine tannin structure will be ideal with a perfectly cooked classic: slow roasted whole eye fillet of beef with Bearnaise sauce. Durif has plenty of tannin and enough acidity to keep the wine balanced and improving for up to a decade or more. Within a few years it will throw some sediment, so is best decanted before serving.

• Country of origin: Australia.
• Vintage year: 2009.
• Age: 20 months.