ark Richardson, red specialist at Tyrrell’s calls Heathcote “undoubtedly Australia’s most exciting new red wine producing region.” Buying up vineyards here was the brainchild of Bruce Tyrrell – and it has yielded a red that wins huge numbers of loyal fans every year.

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.

A charming red of full-flavour and great finesse. Bright ruby colour with an attractive delicately spiced red fruit perfume. In the glass this is silky, succulent, harmonious and very moreish. Roast duck anyone?

A rich, classically styled, medium to full-bodied Shiraz with ample richness, a softly textured supple mouthfeel, and lifted flavours of ripe dark plum, liquorice, dark chocolate and toasty vanillin oak gliding across the palate.

Sam Trimboli has been creating bestselling wonders for us for nearly 20 years, so when we asked him for an exceptional Shiraz the great man was happy to oblige. Once again this 2018 'Special Reserve' is made with Shiraz sourced from premium vineyards owned by many of Australia's leading independent growers.

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!

A true rarity – Pinot Meunier, known as a constituent of some Champagnes, adding richness and body – is very rarely vinified on its own anywhere in the world. As winemaker Bryan Currie shows, it can be done, and very well. “Light in colour but it has its kicking boots on. Cranberry, red cherry, meaty spice and wood smoke flavours combine beautifully. It kicks quality goals from start to finish; tannin, acid and texture are all in good form too... 93 points” (Halliday).

The Hewett and Colton families sailed from England to Adelaide in 1839. Charles Hewitt moved to the Oxenberry farm site in 1840. The fruit for this appealing Shiraz is from the site where Hewet and William Colton planted McLaren Vale’s first vines, fed by a local freshwater spring. The Shiraz is beautifully crafted by McLaren Vale stalwarts, the Scarpantoni brothers, who back in 2007 won the highly prized Jimmy Watson Memorial Trophy at the Royal Melbourne Wine Show. Blackberries, plum, a chocolatey texture, with smooth tannins and a touch of savoury spice, means this suits many dishes from herby lamb to tomato pasta.

This limited-edition label, inspired by Taylors Wines very first release, celebrates both the heritage and the commitment of three generations of the Taylor family's dedication to making fine Australian wine. A soft and fleshy Shiraz boasting a lively palate of juicy red berry fruits, plum and spice, along with subtle chocolate and savoury characters from the oak maturation.

John Quarisa has been variously described as a “magician” and a “sorcerer” by Halliday. His wines do have a magic knack of winning Gold. His secret? Over 20 years of experience as a winemaker and wine judge – and a great attitude. As John says, “you just can’t take life too seriously”. His ‘Enchanted Tree’ Shiraz certainly has the magic Midas touch, winning a rare Double Gold. It's dark and sumptuous, with silky raspberry and plum flavours, with a dash of creamy oak and lovely sweet spice.