I’ve often wondered what Australia would today be like if the Comte de Lapérouse had landed at Botany Bay a few days earlier. He got there on 24 January 1788, six days after Commodore Arthur Phillip had arrived. If the French had settled first would we nowadays have 96 departments instead of six states and two territories? Would Fords and Holdens be all Renaults and Citroens? Fish and chips shops all boulangeries? And how much older and longer-practised – and more expanded – might our vineyards be?

I think of this when I think of the Bordeaux of the south: Margaret River. It is rightly-famous and world-renowned for its cabernet, but by global standards it’s a staggeringly young wine region. First planted to vines in 1967, would Margaret River sit even higher up in the world rankings of fine wine had it been planted by Frenchmen, years earlier? The Rivière Marguerite…

Our offer this time comes from one of this region’s big hitters: Larry Cherubino. With a winemaking résumé that includes working for Hardy’s Tintara in South Australia, then running Houghton’s back in his home state of WA, then consulting as a flying winemaker in NZ, South Africa, California, and Italy, Cherubino could make wine in his sleep, such is his natural talent combined with his drilled professionalism. Of course, plenty of people can make wine – I even did it once; but how many people can make wine with that one intangible dimension of quality – drinkability.

Larry Cherubino can, and this offer highlights some of the best wines across a diverse range, including two that are pre-release specials. Prices are 15 to 20 per cent off, and shipping is free, of course. Vinum Vitae.

Apostrophe Stone’s Throw Riesling/Gewürztraminer/Blanc 2015, $12.80, down from $16.
This is an effortless, crunchy, fresh, pert white blend – about 75 per cent riesling, and the rest gewürztraminer, chardonnay, and 1 per cent sauvignon blanc. It’s got riesling’s linear lemon and lime, a scant knife-point of gewürz’s heady exoticism (think Turkish Delight, or rose water), and a white peach note courtesy of la dame chardonnay. Well-chilled it is very fast wine. Goodness knows where the 750mls goes.

Cherubino Margaret River Chardonnay 2015, $39.20, down from $49. Pre-release offer.
Chardonnay is what proper people know as White Burgundy or Chablis. As a successful grape variety it relies on one lynch pin: acidity. Acidity provides that edgy tension that keeps the wine from becoming too lush. And this wine has that seamless, beautiful tension.

As Mr Cherubino (a man not uninterested in France) says, with reference to Baudelaire, ‘Within the bottle’s depth, the wine’s soul sang one night.’ Structure, length, seriousness, but an ethereal quality too. As Baudelaire continues: ‘Drink wine, drink poetry, drink virtue.’

Pedestal Margaret River Cabernet Merlot 2014, $20, down from $25.
Here’s 100 per cent Margaret River fruit from an excellent vintage for reds, with a longer, slower ripening period allowing depth and concentration to build in grapes like cabernet. This has a 20 per cent merlot component, adding some blueberry high-notes to cabernet’s blackberry and mulberry personality. Fine, long tannins. Super structure. If you could buy third growth Bordeaux this good for $20 you’d buy cases and cases of it.

Cherubino River’s End Cabernet Sauvignon 2014, $32, down from $40. Pre-release offer.
‘Give me the child until he is seven and I’ll give you the man’, or so St Francis Xavier suggested. Some might think this is claptrap where kids are concerned, but it is a useful tool with wine, particularly if you like cellaring the stuff. A day after this cabernet was tasted a core of intense sweet blackberry fruit was revealed. It’s the litmus test of wine’s cellaring potential – trying the second half of the bottle the next day. It shows you the man. And he’s an immaculately dressed hero.

A blend of the best Margaret and Frankland River fruit, this is another wine for lovers of Bordeaux with some room in their cellar, and patience… This is like a super second growth.