Hayman Hill Meritage 2000: very smooth, sily and supply. Notes of plum and cedar, with a faint licorice finish. The longer I held it in my mouth, the more acid I could pick up, but I didn't feel the tannins until late into the second glass. Not typical of the recent Cab style in California where you've got ultra-ripe jam in a glass. Possibly the style of Hayman, the Australian.

Rocca della Macie Chianti Classico 2003: Lively ruby red.Bouquet: Intensely vinous. Dry, well balanced with a good scent of wild fruit. This wine is particularly well suited to dishes of red meat, roasts and game.

Cobos Malbec 2002: While you cannot argue with the wine's density, purity and power, it also has ton of color and loads of clove-packed oak - it's giant. Perhaps you wish it less aggressive and more approachable. Or maybe you outright love it, like we did. Regardless, it needs three years of bot

tle age, that or several hours of air if you plan to drink it now. 93/100, Wine Enthusiast

Penfolds 'Koonunga Hill' Shiraz Cabernet 2001: This has a more rounded fruit quality, with blackcurrant/cassis intensity and a sweeter influence of American oak. The palate has plenty of sweet-edged black fruit. Again, a plum and chocolate bittersweet quality adds an edge to the mid-palate. Good balance, though big-framed and pretty one dimensional. 87/100, Tom Cannavan

Cabernet, Sangiovese, Malbec, and Shiraz all gain complexity with age. Take a shortcut to wine maturity and see how wonderfully these grapes evolve across 20+ years with this lot.