You see, we kept meeting young gun winemakers who had access to tiny parcels of prime fruit which they wanted to craft into small-batch, character-laden wines – and we wanted to encourage them! With no rules to adhere to, these talented winemakers produced astounding wines that dazzled the critics: "Avant-garde and highly successful" (James Halliday), "Australian genius … made with passion" (Jancis Robinson MW), "Must be tasted to be believed" (Robert Parker). RedHeads nowadays has much bigger premises in the South Australia's world-famous Barossa, but it is uniquely designed to produce small batch fermentations, just like they did in the old days. The 1888 is their flagship Barossa Shiraz and it's a beauty, deep, dark and decadently intense – the kind that made the Barossa famous. Make sure you go and visit them in the Barossa. They'd love to show you around.

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.

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.

Since the launch of the first Yarrunga Field, Sam Trimboli has been delighting customers with his fabulous wines and winning awards. They don't call him 'Mr Medals' for nothing! Only in the last four years has he set up his own family winery and, in our opinion, is producing even better wines. He has made us the dark, spicy Black Duck from Durif, and the White Chardie Pinot Grigio Duck, but this is just his second foray into the Pink Duck.

Sam is from Italian heritage – his grandfather grew vines in Italy 90 years ago and his parents emigrated to Oz in 1967 – so perhaps it's of no surprise that he has used nearly all Montepulciano here. A splash of Vermentino adds extra lemony zip. A pretty hue, lovely ripe fruit and zesty freshness.