An amazing parcel of rich, dark, concentrated McLaren Vale Shiraz has gone into 'The Prize' ... look forward to a mouthful of powerful dark fruit, a tempting dark chocolate richness, and a silky, spicy, long, long palate. This is a beauty. Enjoy.

Dense midnight black core with a deep dark red black tinged hue. Nosing offers up lifted aromatics of dark plum, black cherry and liquorice with some vanillin cedar, smoked meat and peppered clove notes also evident. Mid weighted generous dark plum, black cherry and liquorice fruits carry plenty of flesh across the palate. Scorched earth, clove and peppered meat elements lie underneath. Nicely integrated fine grained tannins concluding ripe and savoury. Drink over the next 4-5 years. Alc. 14%

RedHeads was always something of a rebel! The ‘movement’ started in 2002 in the McLaren Vale – in a cellar where young winemakers could come in their spare time and make just the sort of small-scale wine they dreamed of (not like they did in their day job). Since then, the winery has moved home a few times, and today make their wines in the Barossa, at one of Australia's leading eco-friendly cellars. There, surrounded by many of Australia's biggest wine names, they handcraft revolutionary wines from top batches of grapes, rescued from under the noses of the big players. March of Progress celebrates a path in the green direction, using the best rows of organic Shiraz from top McLaren Vale grower Jock Bosworth. Rich and weighty – velvet texture, rich black fruits, long and weighty, rounded tannins.

The Wolf Blass Grey Label Shiraz is an opulent concentrated and complex style with plenty of spicy fruit and a dash of chocolate. True to the style that Wolf himself made from the very beginning of this now iconic brand, this is very tasty and enjoyable now yet it has the weight and complexity to improve with cellaring.

The Syrah patch was planted in the mid 1940’s and yields a microscopic 250-300 dozen per annum. The Sandown Syrah patch is west facing and features significant ironstone content. The site yields a signature incense like spice throughout the fruit and makes for a highly exotic expression of Blewitt Springs Syrah. Cola, sarsaparilla, incense, blackcurrant, blueberry, black olive, Italian leather, Sandalwood and roasted meat are all on display with recessed power woven throughout this highly perfumed and multi-layered, seamless example.

YANGARRA ESTATE VINEYARD Kings Wood Shiraz Shiraz, McLaren Vale

Intensely dark reds circled by hints of purple hues. Lifted mature aromas of cedary oak with pronounced forest berry fruits and complex chocolate and leathery afternotes. A complex and well-developed palate displaying refined mulberry and chocolate flavours lend to the long, smooth savoury finish.

The perfect balance between power and elegance is present here in 'The Descendant' Shiraz by III Associates. Lifted perfume of violet and red fruits courtesy of older oak used lets the fruit sing.

Made by Corrina Wright, a sixth generation member of the Oliver family, this is McLaren Vale Shiraz to the extreme. There's bold chocolate and blackberry flavours, a hint of pepper and smokey overtones. The alcohol sits at the higher end of the spectrum and there's plenty of vanilla oak, but the fruit intensity pulls it all together to produce a superbly balanced wine.