Langton’s Selections ^4 Jacob’s Creek St Hugo Cabernet Sauvignon, ^4Jacob’s Creek Lawson’s Shiraz, Jacob’s Creek Steingarten Riesling, Jacob’s Creek Jacaranda Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon, Jacob’s Creek Centenary Hills Shiraz Jacob’s Creek is one of the most successful wine brands in the world. It is so well-known in export markets that Orlando dumped its name in favour of rebadging itself as Jacob’s Creek. However the quality image never trickles up. If anything all of those great old names – Steingarten, St Hugo and Lawson’s – have not really benefited from this repositioning on the secondary wine market. St Hugo has always been one of Coonawarra's leading Cabernets with an enviable track record of quality. The wine is a made from select parcels of Cabernet Sauvignon, mostly older plantings, all grown on the iron rich terra rossa soils over limestone. However it is no longer regarded as a member of the forward pack of Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignons. However St Hugo does represent terrific value. The wines are consistently good showing refined varietal intensity and flavours, fine tannin structure and good flavour length. Lawson’s Shiraz, named after Robert Lawson, one of the early pioneers of the cool climate Padthaway region, is also a well regarded wine with a similar cachet. It can still claim regional definition, consistency of quality and value, but it rarely achieves the top note of Australian Shiraz. The Padthaway fruit is drawn from a single vineyard planted in 1968 on deep sandy soils on gentle eastern slopes surrounded by eucalypt trees. These are rich, flavoursome wines with plenty of rich Shiraz fruit definition, a touch of menthol and ripe mouth-filling tannin structure. Centenary Hills Barossa Shiraz is also a good value wine showing good regional characters and volume of fruit. Steingarten, once regarded as one of Australia’s great Rieslings, has become something of an enigma. The wine still shows up on the market sometimes defying expectations. Jacaranda Ridge – which was much vaunted at release in 1982 – seems to have disappeared off the radar screen. This is a wine that has had a troubled evolution. Conflicting wine making philosophies and technical problems have slowed progress. A 2003 vintage was released in 2007. Generally the Orlando Jacob’s Creek Saints range represents excellent value. Andrew Caillard MW, Langton's