The judges at the China's Wine & Spirits Best Value Awards were impressed by this rich, spicy Shiraz, unanimously awarding it a Gold. It’s from John Quarisa, who for many years made wine for the biggest names in Oz, winning both the Jimmy Watson and Stodart Trophies. Today, with the help of his wife Josephine, he crafts winners like this. ‘Passion is Everything’ is their motto, and, after just over a decade in operation, their winery in New South Wales boasts four stars from Aussie wine guru James Halliday. He describes the “exceptional value for money provided by the wines” and is full of praise for this red. It’s deliciously easy going, but still packs a punch of luscious ripe fruit. A sure bet for a bbq, a roast or a hearty bake.

The Full Fifteen has been one of our bestselling Aussie reds for years. Smooth juicy flavours, power and real drinkability have made it an all-time customer favourite. So we were thrilled when Andrew McPherson decided to craft a special Reserve edition. It’s been made in honour of Andrew’s mother Doreen, a woman who embodied Australia’s great pioneering spirit and whose devotion to family inspired everyone around her.

To call this Andrew’s special project red is an understatement. He seeks out premium parcels of old-vine Shiraz and Cabernet from acclaimed Victorian vineyards and treats the wine to long, luxurious ageing in finest oak barrels. The result is a berry-laden, richly concentrated, spicy red. Serve with prime steak or roast lamb.

We know how much our customers love juicy Aussie reds, especially a classic Shiraz. That’s why our expert on the ground, Ben Cohn, is always on the lookout for new discoveries. And it’s even better when those discoveries involve wines from one of our favourite winemakers. We’ve been working with Sam Trimboli for over 30 years now and when he set up his own winery in 2018, we backed him all the way. Now he’s one of Australia’s most in-demand winemakers, having won multiple awards across his collection of wines.

Blackstrap has delicious blueberry and blackberry fruit, and a gentle kick of spice on the finish. Ideal for sipping on its own, with barbecued meats or veggie kebabs with couscous.

Bleasdale Vineyards have been proudly owned by the Potts family for five generations. Founder Frank Potts was born in Hounslow, and joined the Royal Navy at the tender age of 9! He started his career as a powder monkey and travelled the world several times, before settling in South Australia in 1836. Originally a carpenter, in 1850 he spotted a great plot of land near the town of Langhorne Creek. He and his new wife decided to buy it and began farming. Theirs was the first winery of the region.

In 2007, Paul Hotker became their winemaker (Winemaker of the Year in 2018) and since then they've won 60+ Trophies. For 25 years, they've used Cabernet Franc in blends, but here have bottled it solo. Enjoy its crunchy fruit freshness. Serve cool.

As you’d expect from a wine dominated by Durif, this is a whopper of a red. It was carefully crafted in the darkest corner of the cellar. Why? Because it’s the special project of rising star winemaker David Joeky and he didn’t want anyone to take a look or taste it until he was absolutely ready. So every evening, after the rest of the crew had left, David would retire to the furthest corner of the cellar, where he’d stationed his special tanks of dark, spicy Durif and ripest, peppery Shiraz. We think he’s ‘blended a blinder’ as the locals say. It’s firm and full, yet abundant in gloriously ripe, liquorice and spice scented fruit with an underlying note of oak. Smooth enough to sip on its own, but even better with hearty red meat dishes.

Patronus is a beautifully smooth, mellow example of the Barossa’s prized Shiraz from a vineyard tended by the same family for six generations. We initially featured a luscious Grenache Shiraz Mataro from this family, and it flew from our cellars. So when our Buyer got wind of a special single vineyard Shiraz from the same tip-top source, he was on to it like a shot.

Shiraz is very much the hero of Australia’s Barossa Valley. Aussie winemaking legend Peter Lehmann once said “When God created Shiraz, he did so with the Barossa in mind.” Patronus comes from a plot of old vines where the amount of fruit is miserly, but the quality is lavish. The beautifully rounded 2017 has ripe black fruit with a rich wrap of mellow oak. A great steak red.