Last weekend we shared a list of shiraz wines and blends to try, with quality and affordability as their defining characteristics. In the current economic climate, we understand the need to keep costs low, while still wanting to drink a great bottle of wine every now and then.
To give you a broader array of options, we have expanded our list into other red varieties from across Australia, including from Clare Valley, Margaret River, Coonawarra, Yarra Valley and more.
Below is a list of 16 red wines, including a "cracking grenache, shiraz and mourvédre blend", a pinot noir "that totally overdelivers" and a grenache thats "price of entry is a pittance for the quality and character". They are all rated between 91 and 95 points, and matched with their affordable pricepoints, these are bottles you'll want to keep on your radar for winter.
Anthologist Wines The Plot Twist Saperavi 2024, Clare Valley
This settles well into the variety, though you'll have to like reds with a little cloying texture and lots of ripe, sweet fruitiness. Forest berry coulis, gingersnap biscuits, licorice, game meat, dill herbal lift, new leather and milk chocolate – right on. Lots of slosh to texture, a light shaping from tannins, too. Pleasure zone stuff. – Mike Bennie, Halliday Wine Companion, 93 points.
RRP $35 | Drink to 2030 | anthologistwines.com.au | Shop this wine
Chaffey Bros Wine Co Battle for Barossa La Resistance! GSM 2023, Barossa Valley
What a cracking grenache, shiraz and mourvédre blend! Medium crimson with vibrant raspberry, blackberry and blueberry aromas, with baking spices, peppercorn, graphite, dried citrus rind and purple florals. Juicy, dark and blue fruits on the palate with the most powdery of tannin clouds, bright acidity and a long draw of juicy, spicy fruit. It's just so damn easy to drink. Woah! – Dave Brookes, Halliday Wine Companion, 95 points.
RRP $30 | Drink to 2035 | chaffeybros.com | Shop this wine
Clarendon Hills Domaine Clarendon Old Vine Grenache 2024, McLaren Vale
Reducing the Blewitt Springs bottling (this is also Blewitt Springs) has seen an increase in volume and the benefit of some more prime old-vine fruit; wild ferment, 21 days on skins, maturation in old French oak. That decision to boost both cuvées is a boon for the wine drinker, with this representing alarming value. The fruit quality here is striking. Marasca cherry, kirsch, crushed rose petals, blood orange, Medina spices. It’s medium bodied, earthy, savoury, rippling with sandy tannin and bright acidity. The price of entry is a pittance for the quality and character, and this will age. What a bargain. – Marcus Ellis, Halliday Wine Companion, 94 points.
RRP $30 | Drink to 2032 | clarendonhills.com.au | Shop this wine
Dominique Portet Fontaine Pinot Noir 2025, Yarra Valley
All Gladysdale fruit, 10% whole bunches and 22% new oak. A very bright crimson purple. A fruit-driven and perfumed bouquet of red fruits, lifted florals and a hint of vanillin from the new oak. The palate is generous and balanced, finishing with silky tannins. A delicious wine that totally overdelivers. Drink now and over the next three to four years. – Philip Rich, Halliday Wine Companion, 95 points.
RRP $30 | Drink to 2030 | dominiqueportet.com | Shop this wine
Dune Wine The Empty Quarter 2024, McLaren Vale
A blend of 47/40/10/3% grenache/mataro/shiraz/touriga. The grenache and shiraz are co-fermented, with the other components blended before a year in oak. Aside from a splash of touriga, this conforms more to a classic mindset than most of the Dune portfolio, though the lean away from sweet fruit and into savoury detail prevails. So too the tensioning on the palate, with a compact of fine yet commanding tannins and a clean line of acidity. Blue fruits and red. Well, black, too, but on the taut side of ripe. Violet, dry spices, iron and earth. As usual, it’s an elegant affair – flavour-deep yet refined. – Marcus Ellis, Halliday Wine Companion, 95 points.
RRP $28 | Drink to 2030 | dunewine.com | Shop this wine
Eldorado Road Quasimodo Nero d'Avola Shiraz Durif 2024, North East Victoria Zone
Hand picked, open fermentation, basket pressed, maturation in French oak on full lees. Nero d'Avola and shiraz share a similar down-to-earth openness and generosity. Throw in durif and you get an anchor of tannin to support this exciting trio. Fresh black cherry, dark raspberry and plum aromas are lifted in lively spices, red earth notes and herbs. Medium bodied, supple in texture, taut in structure and filled to brimming in fruit and spice, this Quasimodo offers more depth – and potential ageability – than you might think.– Jeni Port, Halliday Wine Companion, 95 points.
RRP $29 | Drink to 2038 | eldoradoroad.com.au | Shop this wine
Flowstone Wines Touriga 2023, Margaret River
Now, the first thing to do before enjoying this is to pop it into a decanter for an hour or so, as it needs to open. What comes out is all manner of aromas and flavours, a little exotic, too, with sumac, kirsch and cherries, licorice root and dark-choc-mint biscuits. Pops of sweet fruit fill the fuller-bodied palate, with savoury nuances in the mix, really sandy, lovely tannins and a freshness throughout. – Jane Faulkner, Halliday Wine Companion, 95 points.
RRP $36 | Drink to 2031 | flowstonewines.com | Shop this wine
Golden Amrita Sunshine Hill Shiraz 2021 Barossa Valley
Deep crimson with aromas of blackberry, black cherry and ripe plum fruits with underlying hints of baking spice, licorice, dark chocolate, Cherry Ripe, fruitcake, grilled figs and some American oak spice. It's got a traditional Barossa feel about it. Superfine silty tannins and some bright blackcurrant pastille and black cherry conserve fruit tones as it fades away. – Dave Brookes, Halliday Wine Companion, 91 points.
RRP $40 | Drink to 2035 | goldenamrita.com | Shop this wine
Hoffmann Family Vineyards Dallwitz Block Carignan 2021, Barossa Valley
The Hoffmann vineyards in the northern Barossa require no introduction; many of the region's top producers source grapes from the hallowed soils. This is the Hoffmann family's own wine, a carignan with a vibrant hue in the glass and aromas of blackberry, blood plum, crushed rock and wood spice with citrus blossom and violet top notes. There's just a touch of crushed herbs, a pure swell of fruit, and the wine tightens on the finish with a real lipsmacking acid profile. A super interesting febrile style with plenty of fruit flow. – Dave Brookes, Halliday Wine Companion, 93 points.
RRP $40 | Drink to 2035 | hoffmannfamilyvineyards.com | Shop this wine
Hoffmann Family Vineyards Hoffmann DV Grenache Carignan 2022, Barossa Valley
A bruised magenta/crimson in the glass with appealing aromas of satsuma plum, dried cranberry and raspberry with underlying hints of milk chocolate, dried citrus rind, earth, citrus blossom, mixed spice and blueberry pie. Fruit pure, with a little oak spice sneaking in on the palate, lying nicely in line with the fruit. Superfine, sandy tannins and some lovely sour cherry acidity on the fade out. – Dave Brookes, Halliday Wine Companion, 92 points.
RRP $40 | Drink to 2035 | hoffmannfamilyvineyards.com | Shop this wine
JarrahWood Estate Vin des Rois Grenache Shiraz Mourvedre 2024, Geographe
Supple, velvety and long-lived in flavour. A lushness but also a vibrancy, with red berries, plummy fruit, sweet spice, a touch of aniseed and pepper in the mesh of things. A nice, medium-weight, plush glass of red wine that gives warmth and brightness at once. Easy as. – Mike Bennie, Halliday Wine Companion, 91 points.
RRP $39 | Drink to 2030 | jarrahwoodestate.com.au | Shop this wine
Murray Street Vineyards Artisan Shiraz 2023, Barossa Valley
Deep magenta-splashed crimson with juicy damson plum, blueberry, and boysenberry fruits, with hints of baking spices, licorice, earth, dark chocolate, roast meats, panforte, purple florals, and plum conserve. The fruit is deep and wonderfully pure, sitting in the full-bodied range with a bright line of acidity and fine, silty tannins; the flavours drawing out nicely on the finish. – Dave Brookes, Halliday Wine Companion, 93 points.
RRP $40 | Drink to 2041 | murraystreet.com.au | Shop this wine
Ros Ritchie Wines Symphonia Vineyard Pinot Meunier 2024, King Valley
Fermented in open tub with 40% whole bunches, 12 months' maturation in seasoned French barriques and puncheons. Pinot meunier is having a moment, and it's about time. Ros Ritchie brings out its silky, seductive side, all bright red fruits, energised acidity and fabulous aromatics, and it's a joy to behold in its youth. Brilliant cerise hues. Red cherries, raspberry, pomegranate and lifted violet, rose florals and spice combine to present one ultra-delicious, fresh, summer-fruited wine to enjoy when the sun goes down. – Jeni Port, Halliday Wine Companion, 93 points.
RRP $35 | Drink to 2028 | rosritchiewines.com | Shop this wine
Trentham Estate Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2024, Coonawarra
Seven day fermentation, pressed, 13 months' maturation in French and American oak. Strong in deep purple colour and equally strong in varietal intensity, this well-priced wine has all the hallmarks of a quality young cabernet. Shows enticing, ripe dark cherry, cassis and blackberry with Coonawarra bush mint, earth, dry leaves, licorice, light mocha and spice. Tannins are firm, and the sturdy structure of the wine definitely suggests further cellaring time will be amply rewarded. – Jeni Port, Halliday Wine Companion, 92 points.
RRP $32 | Drink to 2036 | trenthamestate.com.au | Shop this wine
Vinea Marson Barbera 2024, Heathcote
Fermented in two parts: the first a wild ferment of destemmed fruit, the second undergoing carbonic maceration. Third time's a charm. This is the third barbera release for the maker in its evolution of the style, and it's a big wow! What was primarily fresh and vital last vintage has settled into something darker, more complex, deeper in flavour and intensity, with savoury edges. It grabs your attention and doesn't let go with its Heathcote deep earthiness, undergrowth, autumnal leaf, fennel seed and peppery spice against concentrated black fruits, blueberry and sweet cherry lifted by rose petal florals. Supple yet dense tannins bring it home to linger long. – Jeni Port, Halliday Wine Companion, 95 points.
RRP $38 | Drink to 2030 | vineamarson.com | Shop this wine
Wild Duck Creek Estate Red Duck Grenache Shiraz Mataro 2024, Heathcote
56/37/7% grenache/shiraz/mataro; harvested and vinified separately, 16 months' maturation in seasoned French and American oak. Well priced and well assembled, with a full expression of Heathcote generosity on show. A deep sense of ripe red and black fruits with blood plums and black cherries in the lead, framed in beautiful, lively spices, anise, chocolate, earth and briar. The palate is built around a mellow, open-knit structure, giving full voice to the plummy, spiced flavour. Supple, earthy tannins to close. Great value. – Jeni Port, Halliday Wine Companion, 93 points.
RRP $30 | Drink to 2031 | wildduckcreekestate.com.au | Become a Wild Duck Creek member for free to shop this wine
