This sensational Shiraz is made by the “exceptionally gifted” Elena Brooks (Halliday). Her medal cabinet bulges with Trophies and Golds won all over the world, and she regularly earns seriously high scores from acclaimed wine critics. Just recently, Elena’s Dandelion Vineyards also won the Southern Hemisphere Winery of the Year Trophy in the US. How does she do it? With a lot of skill, and a lot of passion, like the kind that went into the Lioness. The 2016 has already won TWO Gold medals and a rare Platinum - plus a stellar 96 points from the San Diego Wine Competition. You can look foward to cherry liqueur and chocolate aromas, while on the palate, lush, red fruits jostle with black cherries, plums, dark chocolate, vanilla and sweet spice. Enjoy in big glasses for full effect.

John Quarisa is a Jimmy Watson Trophy-winning winemaker, with a "long and distinguished" career (Halliday). Here he's provided a beautifully rich, lush and full-flavoured Shiraz, a triple Gold-winner laden with ripe fruits, delicious exotic spice and a smooth, long finish.

Not only has this family estate won 60 Golds in a decade, but also 'Best Wine in the World'. That was for their 2005 Shiraz in 2008! The secret to this weighty, spice packed red is the sandy soils, which hold little rain for the vines, plus the unrelenting hot sun. The result is a modest yield of small berries crammed with juicy flavour. With this style of wine, award winning winemaker Jaime Quendera is now forging a reputation for Setúbal's rich, bold reds. Mostly Shiraz along with a splash of local variety Alicante, Jaime finished the wine in expensive oak barrels to add a gorgeous spicy vanilla lift to the blueberry, blackberry and peppery fruit. A fine treat to serve with spicy chorizo sausages, a hearty stew or the Sunday roast.

Sam Trimboli LOVES Durif. He calls it a “stunning little powerhouse grape that develops astounding complexity”. The numberplate on his car even sports the word ‘Durif’, that’s how highly he rates it. The grapes for this wine come from a small vineyard that Sam helped establish in the 1980s and is now at peak maturity.

L’Epiphanie de Saint-Estèphe comes from a very fine estate in Bordeaux’s legendary St-Estèphe appellation in the northernmost part of the Médoc – one of only two Second Growths. (There are actually no First Growths in St-Estèphe, so this is pretty much top of the tree.) First Growth Château Lafite is just across a stream to the south, which gives you an idea of the hallowed terroir we’re talking about. We can’t reveal which estate this wine comes from, but we can tell you that two of its Grand Vins from the legendary 2009 & 2010 vintages were rated a perfect 100 points by the great Robert Parker – wines that sell for nearly $200 per bottle! It's compellingly aromatic – a seductive scent of violets and ripe red fruit. The luscious palate delivers concentrated cassis and plum, with touches of mineral and cherry on the long, sensuous, minerally, finish. It's a sublime example of the lavish St Estephes from this great estate, silky smooth, velvety, complex and long.

Mark Lloyd of Coriole planted Sangiovese in his McLaren Vale vineyards in the mid 1980s and in 1999 he famously won the inaugural Australian Sangiovese Awards – a precursor to the Australian Alternative Varieties Wine Show, where this delicious 2016 Sangiovese won Gold! It has beautiful bright spiced cherry and plum fruit, with a savoury touch of herbs and spice. It's a terrific food wine - try it with your best Italian pasta dish.

There’s bundles of flavour in this classy Grenache, Shiraz and Mourvédre. A special blend that offers soft layers of fruit, and rich and velvety charm – The Black Pig delivers again!

Battle of Bosworth started conversion to organic in 1995. Now, fully organic certified, they have a significant holding of 20 years and older vines. Their Puritan Shiraz is modelled on the young Tempranillos that come out of Rioja in Spain – no oak, just straight into bottle, so the fruit flavours really shine. (And they really do shine!) No added preservatives make this a top choice for the sulphur-sensitive.

The Pike brothers established Pikes winery in the Polish Hill sub-region of the Clare Valley in 1984, renovating an old stone shearing shed to house their winery and cellar door. Neil is the veteran winemaker (he’s done 38 vintages in Clare); Andrew the seasoned viticulturist (he spent 22 years working for big names like Wynn’s Coonawarra and Southcorp before establishing Pikes). Together they turn out formidable wines that earn plenty of show medals and critical acclaim. Their richly textured 2017 'Wilfred's Block' really is magnificent. A definitive Australian blend of inky, slatey Cabernet and sumptuous, spicy Shiraz, it’s a contemplative wine – the layers of flavour will reveal themselves slowly – and perfect for winter sipping. It will cellar well until 2032, but is still drinking beautifully now. Decant, pour into big glasses, and savour with good food and good friends.