The judges at 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.

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.

20 years ago, a lightbulb moment resulted in the creation of RedHeads by Tony and Tom Laithwaite. It was a no-gimmicks, no-rules cellar where young, talented (and rebellious) winemakers could moonlight and make small-batch wines that really rocked their boat. Growers started bringing in pick-up loads of their best grapes they wanted 'rescuing' from the mega-blends.

RedHeads winemakers began to gain a reputation as the ‘Robinhood of grapes’ – saving parcels to make into handcrafted wines. So popular, the cellar outgrew its original home and, for a few years, it moved from shed to shed. Finally it bought its own vineyard and built a state-of-the-art, off-grid, solar-powered eco winery. RedHeads by name, green by nature, with awards galore.

Australian outlaw, Ned Kelly, is the inspiration behind this striking label. His story inspired another underdog – Sam Trimboli. One of our most popular Aussie winemakers, behind many of our chart-topping wines, Sam wasn't born into a famous winemaking clan or wine region. He just proved his skill through hard grunt and great wines.

Shiraz takes the lead in this fruit-filled red, while a twist of Durif and Saperavi (a native grape to Georgia) adds deep purple hues and soft full tannins. Combined they show off ripe aromas of blackberry, raspberry and cherry, with a hint of gun smoke from a light touch of French and American oak. Seductively smooth as a glass on its own, or a great match with juicy burgers and grilled vegetable kebabszz.