A blend of Merlot (60%), Cabernet Sauvignon (35%) and Cabernet Franc (5%). Interesting name for a wine, as Emporio translates roughly to “general store” in Italian. I’m pretty sure then this is a tribute to the Coonawarra General Store.

Di Giorgio Family Wines, Emporio, Coonawarra, 2015

As you’d expect from a bigger blend, a complex nose with pencils, plums, mulberry, spearmint, dried violets, cassis and sweet cedar driven oak. Make sure you decant this and let it breathe for a while or come to it at second day: you’ll be rewarded with perfectly ripe plums and blackberry before lingering vanilla, licorice and boysenberry.  Medium bodied, and whilst there’s new oak, it doesn’t take over the tannin structure. This is still a wine with fruit on its mind.

RRP: $26
Alc: 13.6%
Rating: 17.5/20

Wine sample courtesy of Di Giorgio Family Wines