Baby Menzies? Yalumba’s bargain Cigar Cabernet Sauvignon 2018 does it.

New packaging for this Coonawarra red, and it only up the VFM even more. $35 Cabernet done good.

This Yalumba The Cigar Cabernet Sauvignon 2018 is named after the cigar-shaped strip of terra rossa dirt that underpins Coonawarra’s fortunes. Some locals, however, think the fertile dark soils – sometimes called ‘the goo’ are just as good for big reds. Minty dark fruit – no surprises there. Hello Coonawarra! It’s a smidgen round at the edges – a little diffuse – but the minty weight of this is ace. It feels like proper Coona Cab, albeit in a medium-bodied, less tannic form compared to its older brother Menzies. I like it.

Best drinking: now and probably a decade more. 17.7/20, 92/100. 14%, $35. Yalumba website. Would I buy it? Sure would.