An aged example of top-end Barossa shiraz, this svelte beast of a wine proves that the regionâs power can be harnessed in service to finesse â and that not every âcultâ producer makes stereotypically boozy, brash wines.
A decade in barrel, first under flor yeast, then on ullage (an oxidative environment), itâs fair to say this is a unique wine for this country. This bristles with briny Sherry notes, roasted nuts and linseed, an explosion of orange-skinned citrus and spice riding the uber-dry and saline palate.
An Australian classic, and an Australian Christmas Day classic wine, too. Dark fruits and spice are buoyed by the fizz, making for a luxurious, heady wine but one that boasts ample freshness.
Thirteen years on, this nebbiolo proves the varietyâs rare gift for graceful ageing â dried roses, tar, leather and amaro-like bitterness replacing primary fruit in a wine thatâs moved into savoury, serious territory.
From one of Australiaâs most decorated family wineries, this museum-release semillon has spent thirteen years growing into itself â itâs delicious now, but still just a pup. âVat 1â remains the benchmark example of exactly why aged Hunter semillon is one of the countryâs greatest wine styles.
This homage to the flor-raised wines of the Jura ripples with savoury notes, from toasted grain and celery salt to characteristic nuttiness, while chardonnay has its say on the palate, with dried peach and apple.
Savagnin under flor yeast, in the style of the wines from Franceâs Jura region. This vintage is a stunningly bright affair, layered with waxy, briny umami notes and shot through with citric freshness, whipcrack dry and moreish.
Matured under flor yeast, this is a Mornington Peninsula version of Vin Jaune, loaded with preserved lemon and nutty sherry-like notes, with explosive power and a dryly saline umami carry.
A typical varietal tussle of dark fruit is given a good deal of complexity with spice and herbal notes, a ruggedly tannic grip asserting both variety and a pleasingly classic Australian feel.
This is a fragrant, spicy and complex wine, full of sour cherries and wild berries shot through with dry spices, a twiggy complexity and underpinned by a rugged minerality. Supple and lingering, this is benchmark cool climate syrah.
A flavour bomb of classic gewĂŒrz, with Turkish delight, talc and lychees, but with a dry zip to the palate that keeps it super fresh and vibrant.
A riot of spice, wild berries and floral notes on a slippery but taut midweight frame.
Flinty, white peach and lemon curd, gently textural â this has all the trappings of complex chardonnay, with generosity of flavour and winemaking detail perfectly poised and pitched.
A blend of sauvignon blanc and semillon from older vines. Cullen has given the fruit a bit of a luxury Bordeaux treatment with plenty of classy oak, but the vibrant lift of cut herbs and cassis leave the strongest impression, with a textual but brightly fresh palate following up.
An expressive nose of dried mango and orchard fruits leads to a palate rich with sugar and intensity buoyed and lightened by vigorous acidity and a gentle grip.
One of the greats in top form â complex, smoky and nutty, this is chardonnay on a grand and impressive scale.
A new wine from a new endeavour led by De Bortoliâs ever-restless Steve Webber, this is an earthy, mineral grenache coloured by the ancient soils of Heathcote.
From this outstanding biodynamic vineyard in Margaret River comes a sparkling wine from an unusual variety, offering a striking contrast of intensely bright, fresh fruit and toasty brioche notes.
This is laden with stone fruit and grapefruit notes, with textural flex on the palate that is straightened by trademark freshness.
Perfectly pitched chardonnay from Dave Mackintosh, with flavour and elegance in equal measure.
From the Yarra Valleyâs legendary Willowlake Vineyard, and the equally legendary Dave Mackintosh, this is a pinot noir of real detail and depth, but you can also ignore all that and just focus on its charming drinkability.
A field blend leaning on RhĂŽne white varieties, this is all barrel fermented, then raised on lees to build texture and harmonise the varieties into a seamless whole of orchard fruits, granitic minerals and nutty winemaking notes.
Lesser known Italian varieties are muscling into the limelight right now, and this wine captures why. Packed full of flavour, this has grip and race to keep things fresh â killer with spicy salami pizza.
Vanya Cullenâs âSupernaturalâ journey into skin-contact whites continues, with the 2019 âAmberâ a spicy, fragrant and gently grippy expression of sauvignon blanc.
This rosé is an expression of all the red varieties in the Cullen vineyard viewed through a deep pink lens. Fragrant, spicy and herbal, with a plump of richness cleaned up with a gentle grip working in concert with the acidity.
A Malbec-dominant red from the Mangan Vineyard, across the road from Cullenâs home site, this is brim full of spice and dark fruits with a refined finish â it makes a pretty compelling case for the grape.
A savoury, textured and mineral chardonnay from 2020âs Young Gun of Wine.
Such a new Australian perspective on Sicilyâs most important red grape. Light, vibrant, cherry scented and detailed, pitched to take a chill, or not â this is required drinking.
A ânaturallyâ styled skin-contact white from a Beechworth master better known for classic styles.
From 150-year-old vines, this is fermented all as whole bunches, resulting in a wine laced with evocative spice, orange peel and floral notes to accent the darkly mineral fruit expression.
Earthy and mineral, bristling with spice, dried flowers and sour cherries, this is supple and savoury in equal measure â an utterly distinctive expression.
One of very few wines made from grillo in the country, this is loaded with orchard fruits and a sea spray tang, with texture and bright freshness defining the palate.
The âVerveâ Chardonnay has garnered a bit of a cult following for its zippy charms. In the cool stone fruit and citrus zone, the 2019 turns the texture up a little notch.
A textural, flavour-intense but light-footed wine, this is loaded with orchard fruits, smoky minerals and waxy notes.
This is bursting with spice and wild fruits, with an underlying signature of regional minerality.
An Adelaide Hills pioneer at the top of their game. Intense stone fruit, complex smoky barrel notes and minerals take the lead.
A tangle of wild berries, spice and minerals are supported by assertive tannins that are a distinctive signature of the Swinney vineyard site.
Red fruits matched with spicy, earthy complexity â easy to love, but with detail for those that care to look.
Vinea Marsonâs âGraziaâ is an ode to his familyâs origins in Italyâs north-east. Itâs a wine built on citrus, quince and spice notes, with as much consideration to texture as flavour.
A great example of why grenache is so hot right now. Savoury, aromatic, refined and with a commanding web of tannin, this is compelling stuff.
Layers of citrus, spice and orchard fruit, overlaid with chalky, savoury accents.
An exercise in spice and leathery savouriness, buoyed by plump red fruits, which are clutched firmly by assertive grapey tannins through the finish.
A red-fruited rosé pét-nat, bright and crunchy with a chalky, dry and ultra-refreshing palate.
Supple and silky, this is a seductively delicious take on cabernet franc by Brad Hickey.
Cloudy, wildly aromatic and delightfully left-of-centre orange wine â just what you expect from Yoko and Andries Mostert.
Picked ultra-fresh, this rendition of the great Friulian grape is alive with citrus, apple and herb flavours borne along an electric rail of acidity.
Malbec and petit verdot conspire to give this wine a darkly fruited, spicy yet floral and lithe profile, packed with complex fruit flavours stretched over a savoury canvas.
A classic dry rosĂ© of bright and pure red fruits, but also with a bit more substance and grip â it doesnât need food, but itâs built with it in mind.
What happens when you take a talented young winemaker and get them to tackle the very traditional place/variety combination of Heathcote shiraz? You get something like this â a joyously rich, dark-fruited and gently spicy shiraz that cleverly talks to Australian winemaking tradition while blazing its own trail.
A riot of citrus, apple and jasmine, the wine is marked by its powerful intensity allied with poise, and generous texture paired with laser-like acidity, the extremes working in perfect concord.
The âFresh Princeâ marshals a quartet of red varieties with decent crossover on a Venn diagram but are rarely all seen together, offering a fragrantly floral and spicy nose, with earthy notes, red and dark fruits and a palate of chewy, grapey tannins and fresh zip.
A mélange of all the Giant Steps sites fermented in clay eggs, then sealed for maturation, this has all the Giant Steps chardonnay character and precision with a chalky mineral overlay that adds complexity to nose and palate.
Made from the great southern Italian grape Aglianico, this copper-coloured rosé is laced with wild red berries, tart apple and orange peel, finishing dry, savoury and moreish.
Carignan usually gets lost in blends, but a wine like this makes you wonder why â packed with spice and dark-fruited flavour, this finishes ultra-fresh and racy.
This has some classic floral and talc notes of the variety, but itâs uber-fresh and savoury, light-bodied, tangy and built for thirst-slaking refreshment.
Subtle orchard fruits and dryly savoury. Light on its feet, with a fine, lightly textural and grippy feel.
From the equal oldest producer of red wine from the grape in this country â this has classic varietal lift of red and blue florals, over succulent red and black fruits, with a palate of silky suppleness matched with crunchy freshness.
A departure from the rich styles of tempranillo so often made, this emphasises red fruits and white pepper spice on a midweight frame with grippy tannins and rugged regional mineral notes to close.
Light and bright, this is a pure riot of berries and grapey scents, with a fine freshness and gentle spritz â take it as it comes, or chill it down.
Riot Wines turn out a fresh set of quaffable canned wines in their regular series, but things get a little more serious with the Limited Release wines.
Juicy and dark, but floral and bright at the same time, this is red wine built for drinking not sipping.
Built from mataro, grenache and cinsault, this illustrates what makes blends so compelling â each component pooling into the gaps left by the others, leaving a seamless whole, laced with ripe red fruits, spice and floral notes, the palate supple, with fine grip and natural freshness.
Sourced from three sites, with vines from 55 to 90 years old, Pete Schell crafts the fruit into a democratically priced everyday wine that over delivers in a major way. Crushed red berries and cherries, spices and florals leading to a palate shot through with rocky and earthy minerality, the balance impeccable.
A complex array of sour red and black fruits are accented with rugged dry herbs and a rocky minerality, with Swinneyâs signature assertive tannins tightening through the finish.
This juicy light red is a riot of super-bright red fruits and florals, with a pleasing grip that adds even more refreshment value to the zippy acidity. Drink chilled.
From a vineyard that Ricca Terraâs Ashley Ratcliff planted to focus on heat-loving Iberian grapes in the Riverland. Awash with dark fruits, spices and tarry mineral notes, this still comes in at medium weight with ample freshness.
The Yangarra flagship from deepest sandy soils and oldest vines, this is regal but rugged expression, red and dark fruits, earthy, mineral, utterly individual.
From the Barossaâs groundbreaking biodynamic Alkina vineyard, this is a stunningly mineral expression of shiraz (with a splash of mataro) from an ideally cool year.
Under Alkinaâs exploratory Kin label, this is all old vine semillon, planted in the 1950s, with a whisper of skin contact bringing out some dried ginger and a pleasing drying pucker to the floral, lemon-scented fruit.
A waxy, savoury expression of chardonnay with classic stone fruit, but the feel is Old World, with an appealing grip complementing the fine acidity.
This is Aphelion’s pinnacle grenache â a wine made up of the best parcels in the best years, and the 2021 is at once vibrant and brooding, with notes of cherry, cranberry and rhubarb, layered in with wild herbs and earthy notes that channel through a finely pitched palate.
An exceptional release from the sangiovese touchstone in this country, this is an effortless affair, displaying the classic combination of cherries, woodsy herbs and earthiness, with a bright but typically savoury finish.
From the certified biodynamic Cullen vineyard, this is Vanya Cullenâs foray into orange wine territory. A predictably amber hue, this has herbal and citrus notes, lemongrass and a savoury accent, with pithy grape-skin tannins giving characteristic grip.
A dark tangle of ripe wild berries, dusky florals and spices are ferried on a palate that has the classic tannic growl of malbec, but with amply generous fruit in support.
Light on its feet with gorgeous red fruits and serious winemaking detail. Barbera made with ambition â this is what happens when a vigneron becomes genuinely obsessed with an overlooked grape. This is the Barbera you get the good glassware out for.
This take on pinot gris employs judicious skin contact to pull out a blush of rosy colour while knitting in spice and blood orange over classic pear notes, texture and grip completing the picture.
A blend of Vale hero varieties with a dash of climate-apt touriga, this melds wild berries, spice and earthy scents in a bright, midweight wine with fine but grippy tannins.
With semillon taking the lead, the 2021 âLemon Krushâ is an essay in citrus, from a lemon-scented fragrance to the refreshingly drying pucker of lemon barley water gifted by Wardlawâs masterly hand with skin contact.
Vigneron Ryan Ponsford has made a big impact in short time. This pinot is a savoury splay of wild fruits dusted with spice and herbal notes, grapey tannins providing natural support.
Stepping away from classic Australian riesling, time in oak gives texture to match the ripe fruit weight, but the citric core of the variety slices through in ideal balance, a saline, waxy quality adding depth.
Giant Steps may be a Yarra Valley icon, but here it spreads its wings into the hallowed pinot noir territory of Tasmania, with an expression full of ripe wild berries and violets dusted with baking spices that front a palate of silky plushness and sneakily assertive tannins.
One of the finest pinot noir and shiraz blends weâve seen. A lifted nose of wild forest berries and spices gives way to a palate of bright fruits, darker mineral notes and a feel that is equal parts savoury and vibrantly fresh.
White stone fruit is joined by subtle nutty and spicy notes, with a gently textured palate cushioning a line of vibrant acidity.
Giant Steps have become a true pinot noir star of the Yarra Valley, and their multi-site range is a bellwether for the quality of the vintage. In 2021, that snapshot is a truly exciting one.
Sparkling wines made only from pinot meunier are a relative rarity here in Australia â but this elegant, detailed, and delicious wine makes a compelling argument that they should be more common. Roll over, pinot noir â and tell chardonnay the news.
A joyous mix of muscat and riesling, full of pink grapefruit and rosewater with softly textured generosity matched with exuberant freshness.
Owen Lattaâs take on viognier is a world away from the norm of exotically lifted wines, dripping in apricot floral. Instead, his is a wine of orchard fruits creeping to ripeness with pops of honeycomb and nuts, a slip of texture and a gently pithy palate to gnaw on.
This early release wine from Owen Latta captures a fragrant but complexly spicy side to the grape, with amaro/vermouth seasoning the wild red fruits, while a meshing of cool tannins and zippy acidity gives this real pep.
This is the first syrah that Owen Latta has made since 2015, and itâs stunning stuff. An incredibly complex and darkly seductive wine, with wild fruits accented by exotic spices and craggy minerals â midweight, chewy and speaking loudly of place.
A textural, mineral-driven version of sauvignon blanc that shows how good this variety can get with a little bottle age.
Ample orchard fruits and citrus notes are accented with chalky minerality on the nose, with a textural, chewy and saline palate stretching long and detailed.
Friulano is a variety that is well suited to skin contact â with this version offering a vibrant lift of ginger, herbs and orange peel notes, a gentle grip providing savoury refreshment.
A prettily fragrant nose of fresh pear, mandarin zest and floral notes, a gently pleasing texture and vibrant freshness sealing the deal.
A vibrantly intense wine typical of the region, but with a varietal vibrancy of pristinely ripe cherries, overlaid with dusky florals and spice, the palate silky and compellingly slurpable.
John Hughesâ mastery of the riesling grape has already been amply proven, but in the superb 2021 vintage that dialâs been turned up to new limits. This is an intense play of jasmine and lime, effusive but not overly exotic, with tension and effortless balance through a long finish underlining its pedigree.
While a can of wine may seem like itâs a wine for the park, with all the bells and whistles of classic chardonnay making, this effort deserves taking a decent glass along for the ride.
From one of Victoriaâs great vineyard sites â a brace of red fruits are spiced with white pepper and cypress notes, with a supple, bright and fresh palate, equal parts silky and vibrant.
This is winemaker Clare Dryâs first âSt Petersâ Shiraz, and what a debut it is â perfumed, intense, spicy, silky and just so effortless with it.
The suite of reserve wines is a welcome addition to the Sigurd portfolio, with this elevating a variety so infrequently celebrated in the Barossa. Mineral, spicy and laced with umami on a bed of citrus, this is textural, chewy and so engagingly savoury and complex.
Modern Barossa is perhaps an abused term, but it couldnât be more apt here. A wine of impeccable elegance and balance, but with weight and earthy, spicy intent.
A joyously bright and spicy wine stuffed full of forest berries, cherries and spices, with a bright midweight palate carrying plenty of stemmy grip.
This is a super-fragrant take on mencĂa, matching the classic floral profile with ample but well-knit spice across a splay of cherries, berries and sour plums.
A riot of wild red berries accented with earthy complexity, this is at once bright, juicy and forward while having gently earthy mineral notes, textural across the palate but decidedly dry.
The distinctive play of apricot blossom is present, but it never spills into opulence, with citrus and sone fruits accenting. Built like a quality chardonnay, this is textural, vibrant and loaded with fine detail.
A lemon-scented nose accented with white flowers and talc ushering in a linear and mineral palate of great precision but also gentle texture.
Sprinkled with spice and florals, this is silky and textured, with cherry and plum flavours carrying through a long finish. Ample proof that the Spanish grape has a bright future in this country.
From the 2009 Young Gun of Wine Award winner, and the 2022 Vineyard of the Year Award winner, this is Col McBrydeâs take on a classic blend, featuring vivid red fruits, dusty earthiness and dried laurel.
If you want to understand what wine-lovers mean when they talk of âterroirâ, look no further than this wine, which has a mineral structure and searing elegance that demonstrates its origin on hard limestone soils close to the Southern Ocean.
A melange of fruit from the Pyrenees, Grampians and Yarra Valley â spicy, crunchy and vibrant, this is a pitch perfect lighter red with savouriness and freshness in equal measure.
Jo Marsh is helping to shed light on the Alpine Valleys and less-common varieties. Case in point is her 2022 fiano, which embraces the coolly fragrant side of the grape, with floral, apple and pear notes, and a pleasing grip closing out.
This was the first cuvĂ©e under the Bondar banner, and it remains one of Australian wineâs great bargains. Floral, spicy, buoyantly fruitful, this is supple with both depth and appealing freshness.
Falanghina has found a special place in the Chalmerâs familyâs Heathcote vineyard, showing a new face to the southern Italian grape, revealing an exotically aromatic wine of intensity, drive and freshness.
From one of Australiaâs great viticultural pioneers of alternative varieties comes an incredibly composed tempranillo with serious winemaking detail â and, in the eyes of some judges, Australiaâs best example of the variety.
From the Alpha Box & Dice crew, this is a skinsy take on pinot gris that takes the coppery âramatoâ inspiration into deeply coloured and flavourful territory, with notes of pear, guava, peach and watermelon and a palate rolling into a gently grippy and textural zone.
A midweight, digestibly bright and savoury Mediterranean-style red, this shows the Koerner artistry of making subtly nuanced blending components then merging them seamlessly.
The entry level white for Jono and Damon Koernerâs Leko range, this is a bellwether for the thoughtfully subtle detail felt throughout the wines, with gentle spice across orchard fruits, and a pithy grip providing moreish tension.
Although fledgling in this country, this makes a strong case for planting more pinot blanc, with apple, pear and citrus notes on the nose and a palate that shows generosity, freshness and a charmingly chewy complexity.
A classic expression of the grape, with forest berries, cherries and a flash of violets pitched in an elegant and poised frame, an undercurrent of ruggedly regional minerality making its presence felt.
Skin-contact picolit is no common thing in this country, but the results are stunning, with citrus, stone fruit and quince overlaid with spices.
The second release from this new project on an old vineyard, and what a great release it is. Golden apples, citrus, fennel and a waxy savouriness lead to a palate that is textural and appealingly grippy.
Flush with spice, orange peel and wild forest berries, thereâs a suppleness here and texture that welcomes a chill.
A riot of red fruits, tangerine and floral notes, with a properly dry but agreeably textural palate. This is benchmark rosé.
This is a cinsault to get people talking about cinsault. Pitched in a very of the moment midweight style, this sports a riot of red berries paired with spice and dusty minerality, a fine but engagingly sandy tannin cleaning up the finish.
âOrangeâ wine with a perfect balance between savoury tension, in both flavour and feel, with citrus peel and subdued blossom flecked with warm spices and earthy notes, a prudent amount of grip adding structure.
Tasmaniaâs most lauded red wines may be its pinot noirs, but the first red wine grapes to be planted there in the modern era were Bordeaux varieties. This wine shows that thereâs also plenty of joy to be found in Tasmaniaâs richer reds.
Think Langhorne Creek is all about big juicy malbecs and mint chocolateâtinged cabernets? This supple, elegant sangiovese from Sven Joschke asks you to think again.
The devotion of Giles Cooke MW and Fergal Tynan MW to grenache is on display here with the full gamut of grenache flavours from wild red fruits and florals to an earthy growl of old vine fruit, with a natural tannic spine supporting.
The first release of this variety from the biodynamic Yangarra, this has the appealing freshness of the variety paired with apple and citrus, but also an engaging mineral savouriness to up the interest.
Tasmanian wine industry legend Andrew Pirie flexes his muscles with this impressive pinot noir. Bright and supple, with a surprising amount of ripe fruit on the palate, this wine shows the potential of Burgundian savoir-faire applied to Tasmanian terroir.
In any year, this is a sure candidate for Australiaâs top rosĂ© â for both quality and value â and the 2023 is stellar. Red fruits and watermelon are features, as is the typically textural play on the palate that is swiftly refreshed with perfectly balanced acidity.
From the label that made Australiaâs first commercial grĂŒner veltliner back in 2009, this is a more subtle and savoury take on the variety â less riesling-adjacent aromatic zip, more chardonnay-like richness, and worn with real grace.
Portuguese native white grape variety arinto shines in this McLaren Vale rendition, which utilises clever winemaking to layer texture and interest.
A seriously sophisticated sparkling rosé that joins the ranks of top-notch Australian pink bubbles looking to challenge preconceptions about the category.
This chenin blanc from the Hunter valley not only challenges preconceptions about what the Hunter can achieve â it also shows a new facet of chenin blanc as an endlessly fascinating variety.
The second release from Werkstatt sees a pét-nat join the roster, and what a vibrantly racy wine it is, rippling with citrus, apple and floral notes and driven by bracing acidity that is cushioned by pulpy texture.
This is thrilling stuff. Scented with lime, tart grapefruit and wet stone. A small amount of unfermented grape sugar is electrified by the acidity, gifting weight and texture while drying out through the considerably long finish.
A Barossa red with a French name that drinks like a pinot noir? Mais oui. This bright, crunchy blend of three Mediterranean varieties is a dangerously drinkable departure from the Barossa norm.
How do you make a daggy grape variety like petit verdot interesting again? You hand some over to Bloomfieldâs Lauren Hansen â who will turn it into a juicy, bouncy, vibrant delight of a chillable red wine via the magic of carbonic maceration â thatâs how.
This is a decidedly smashable and crunchy light red, all vibrant fruit with a little spicy herbal edge â but thereâs some seriously clever winemaking technique at work under the hood here.
A supple, elegant example of cabernet sauvignon that showcases what this sometimes-maligned variety has to offer when grown in a cool climate and made in a lighter frame.
Forget the overtly fruity, bubblegum-scented clichĂ©s of Beaujolais nouveau â when treated with respect, gamay is just as capable of greatness as any ânobleâ variety. This wine is a serious â and seriously delicious â take on the grape: a dark-fruited, savoury, and smoky delight.
The first and only Australian example of a dry wine made from the Hungarian variety furmint also happens to be an absolutely delicious drop. With its deft balance of nuance and detail against big flavours and palate presence, we can chalk this wine up as another win for Brian Freeman â one of Australiaâs foremost experts in alternative varieties.
In the hands of winemaker Andrew Burchell, the highly aromatic gewĂŒrztraminer has been tamed through a thrilling and deeply hued skin contact white. Tangy fruit and spice meet a complex profile of nuts, caramel and savoury notes.
Viognier can cop a bad rap amongst wine lovers for its heady aromatics, unctuous texture and lack of acidity. But this rendition made from Heathcote fruit shows what the variety is capable of doing when goosed up with a little bit of skin contact and lees.
Winner of the Danger Zone trophy at the 20th Annual YGOW Awards, this could be filed under âdessert wineâ â but weâd rather pour it as an aperitif, the thing that kicks an evening off. Built from three separate picks of fruit and layered vinification, it carries serious complexity in the glass.
This is a delicate and beguiling wine â light and crisp, yet subtly textural â made from the relatively obscure Sicilian variety inzolia. It showcases the magic that can happen when an emerging producer works with an exciting new variety â and after tasting this, youâll want to get on board with both Majama and inzolia.
Biodynamically farmed, this is chenin blanc for chardonnay lovers â all flint, mineral drive and gorgeous lemon butter character. A benchmark, thrilling chenin blanc.
Obsessionist is Australiaâs only label built solely around malbec, grown in Tasmania of all places â on the last half-hectare of a family vineyard, because Marty Smith was obsessed enough to try. It also just might be Australiaâs best malbec.
Howâs this for a bold statement? âUna Vitaâ takes Ricca Terraâs dedication to the much-derided Riverland to the next level, with a fine-wine level of viticultural and winemaking detail â and a matching price point. And it delivers⊠Beeswaxy aromatics mingle with flavours of lemon barley, bread and butter.
An Australian original reborn â dark-fruited yet light on its feet, with an utterly unique and captivating savoury profile â built on a blend Maurice O’Shea invented in the Hunter Valley eighty years ago.
What happens when you treat two âalternativeâ varieties with the same amount of reverence other makers would reserve for the noble chardonnay? If youâre Thistledownâs Giles Cooke, you get a serious â and seriously delicious â textural white.
From a five-hectare, organically farmed vineyard on Tasmaniaâs Tamar Valley thatâs racked up a stunning number of trophies in the last three years of awards from Young Gun of Wine â the Danger Zone, the Winemakerâs Choice, the New Vineyard of the Year, and finally Young Gun of Wine itself â this is pinot noir with red fruit, spice and real conviction. This is a stunning project to know.
From the Barossaâs newly crowned Best New Act at the 2026 Young Gun of Wine Awards: a sangiovese-cabernet blend that trades the regionâs traditional power for restraint, detail and quiet arresting charm.
Fresh, vibrant and light, yet layered with intricate detail, this wine is a joyous and approachable example of the genius of the late Peter Fraser â a champion of not only grenache, but also of lesser-known climate-apt varieties.
From the Young Gun of Wine who helped put grenache on the map in McLaren Vale comes a wine made from its white-skinned sibling. With its gorgeous pear, grapefruit and flint characters, this is a standout example of an exciting new climate-apt variety that is still finding its feet in Australia.
The Spanish tradition of making âclareteâ wines â red and white co-ferments that land somewhere between chilled reds, rosĂ©s, and skin-contact whites â has only recently come back from the brink of extinction. And Australia has already joined the party with this, our countryâs first clarete â a quaffable, rose-scented delight of a wine that colours outside of the lines.
Grown biodynamically above a seam of blue slate no one knew was there until the vines went in, Springvale is the site that was recently named Australiaâs Vineyard of the Year â and Jeffrey Grosset turns it into one of the countryâs most quietly electric Rieslings.
This wine has everything to love about McLaren Vale grenache â bright red raspberry fruit combined with real spice depth, from a new label working with some seriously good vineyards.
From an award-winning pioneer of mineral-driven chardonnay: this edition presents ripe grapefruit characters and a savoury whisper through old-oak fermentation.
Is this wine particularly âvarietalâ? Nope. Is this wine unfeasibly delicious? Hell yes. This juicy, easygoing tempranillo isnât here to teach you about what tempranillo should taste like â but it has more than enough interest and character to keep you drinking after the first glass.
From Yuri Berns, 2026 YGOW Awards Finalist, this wine mounts a strong case for being Australiaâs best Albariño. Itâs a riot of florals, honeysuckle and fresh ripe white peaches. Refreshing and crisp, with a sea spray finish.
The fourth release of this variety from the biodynamic Yangarra, the surprisingly savoury, salty depth of this wine shows how quickly they have mastered this recent arrival.
From one of the poster children of new-wave Barossa, forget everything you thought you knew about shiraz from this region. This is a mind-bending, paradigm-shifting expression of the variety â incredibly svelte, and utterly its own thing.
Sweet, but cut through with salted nut and smoky notes, and alcohol spirit lending it shape and line. Crittenden Estateâs take on the Macvin of Franceâs Jura region, with flor-aged savagnin combined with unfermented new-vintage juice, then fortified.
A decadent glass of fortified, rippling with raisin, fig, date and coffee notes, this is rich and unctuous, but with the fortifying alcohol lifting the sweetness, leaving endless layers of flavour to linger on the palate.
A unique sparkling wine drawn solely from a solera started in 2003 â think artisan Champagne, shot through with nutty sherry-like notes, but built on fruit intensity.
A heady riot of unusual flavours that demonstrates why a handful of wine-lovers adore savagnin that has been matured under a âveilâ of flor yeast.
The Next Wine Icons – Delivered
Each month, get 3 bottles of fresh discoveries.
We taste thousands to bring you the best.
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