People often ask me what my favourite wine is. The answer - 20per cent side-stepping a trap but 80 per cent true - is that it changes every week. Exciting new discoveries (and sometimes rediscoveries) are inclined to send me off crowing about some thrilling source of intense pleasure - but only until another takes its place.
The tasting of Coonawarra wines in Dublin recently was a reminder, not just of the fickleness of my own promiscuously over-active tastebuds, but of wine trends on a wider scale. Ten, maybe 15, years ago Australia knocked us sideways with her big, full, fruity flavours. It was like a re-run, in drinking terms, of the Swinging Sixties - a liberating free-for-all that unbuttoned wine's rather reserved, aristocratic image and let everybody in on the fun.
It opened our eyes, not just to New World wines but to a whole new world of wine. California, Chile, New Zealand, Argentina, South Africa, then new activity in Italy, France and Spain . . . With so many hunting grounds, it was easy to forget Australia for a time - even to forget precisely what it was we fell for in the first place.
A few mouthfuls of Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon and it all came rushing back. They're smooth and confident and desperately seductive, these Australian reds. And there are more of them around to tempt us now than there were 10 years ago. Having pulled back from trying to compete on a wide scale at the cheap end of the market, Australia has been focusing increasingly on the premium sector - wines in the middle-to-upper price category.
There is more emphasis on boutique-style winery operations (even within vast companies), and on single vineyards, in the move to build a reputation for carefully crafted, limited-production quality wines. The message from Down Under is simple. Planning a special evening? Catch one of our Cabs.
Coonawarra is the heartland - the region that Australia regards as its Medoc. In from the coast, mid-way between Adelaide and Melbourne, a cigar-shaped strip of red soil on a limestone base has proved the perfect place for vineyards that yield super-smooth, opulent, elegant and immensely powerful reds. Easy to remember: this terra rossa generates wines with the same mix of turbo-charge and style as a Ferrari Testarossa. The Dublin tasting provided a valuable opportunity to sample some of the most famous (and most expensive), including Wynns Coonawarra John Riddoch, Hollick Ravenswood and Penley Estate - all costing £20-35.
But there are plenty of other impressive Cabernets or Cabernet-based blends in Irish shops at lesser prices, as you'll see from the list below. There are also other regions of Australia, besides Coonawarra, where there is every chance of discovering red wines in the same concentrated, lush style - albeit with regional variations.
Margaret River in Western Australia is producing some very serious Cabernet with a leafy, herbaceous character. (Aside, again for big spenders: try Chateau Xanadu Reserve 1993 from Mitchells or Direct Wine Shipments - a voluptuous, minty example made by Irish doctors John and Eithne Lagan).
McLaren Vale in South Australia, like Coonawarra, is a good source of well-made but also well-priced Cabernet, often with a dark chocolate richness. Victoria's cool Yarra Valley is another place to direct the quality search.
The only difficulty, in all of this, is that with supply down and demand up, many of the classy Australian Cabernets currently available in Ireland are just too young to be at their best - a point, perhaps, worth bearing in mind if you're on the point of parting with fairly serious money for a bottle to bring home for dinner. At the same time, it's only fair to say that those ripe, sweet flavours which are so typical of Australian Cabernet Sauvignon make immature examples easier to enjoy than their more austere European equivalents. Are we back to seduction again? Maybe, in a way, youthful vigour gives them a sexy edge.
Jump into a Cab . . .
Seppelt Gold Label Cabernet
Sauvignon 1993 (Dunnes Stores, £5.99). Don't be put off by all the flashy gold on the label: as an everyday example of the smooth Aussie approach, this offers unbeatable value. And the more complex, coffee-and-vanilla tinged Seppelt Harpers Range Cab. 1993 costs just £2 more.
D'Arenberg The High Trellis Cabernet Sauvignon 1994 (Superquinn, Terroirs, Vintry, Farm Produce, Jus de Vine Portmarnock, SuperValu, Deangrange, Octavian, Sligo, and other outlets, usually about £8.99). From a McLaren Vale winery with a growing reputation for quality, another smoothie - rich and sweet initially, but with a long tangy finish.
Jamieson's Run Coonawarra Red, Mildara Blass, 1994 (Molloys, Superquinn, Pettits and many independent off-licences, £8.99-£9.99) A Cabernet-based cocktail of red grapes rather than the pure article, but such a luscious and affordable pointer to the Coonawarra style that it can't be skipped. See Bottle of the Week.
Maglieri McLaren Vale Cabernet Sauvignon 1993 (Verlings, Foleys, Fine Wines, Limerick, O'Donovans, Cork, and many other outlets, £9.59-£9.99) A lovely rich mouthful. If you sip enough you may find echoes of loganberries and cassis, black chocolate, coffee and liquorice. In flavour and power, it's almost half way to Shiraz.
Long Gully Irma's Cabernet 1995 (Verlings, £11.99). Jump to the Yarra Valley in Victoria for another beaut with perfect poise - voluptuously rich without being cloying. A great warming wine for a cool autumn evening.
Vasse Felix Western Australia Cabernet-Merlot 1995 (McCabes, Foleys, Verlings, Pielows, Enniskerry, £12.50-£12.99). If you prefer a more vegetal, leafy style of red wine, try this one from Margaret River, the cool climate region in Western Australia that there's so much excitement about. A hefty proportion of Merlot attractively balances chocolatey richness with a herbaceous quality.
Katnook Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 1995 (McCabes, SuperValus, Killiney and Raheny, Grapevine Club, Maynooth, Londis, Malahide, Karwigs, Cork, and other outlets (usually about £13.50). A Coonawarra favourite of mine in a new vintage. Already this youngster is amazingly attractive, with super-concentrated flavours and a long, cedary finish. When it grows up in a year or two, it will be even more delicious.