Amex bill looking ginormous this December? Mine is, and It only got paid off last week. So, rather than whinging about it, here is something to help with the ‘where has my money gone’ frustration – 15 entirely drinkable reds that will cost you $35 or less, all designed to help water your friends and family this Christmas for less.
Indeed, these aren’t wines to idolise or trophy wines. They simply offer plenty of flavour and charisma for under $35. That’s it.
Let’s dive in!
Gundog Estate Hilltops Shiraz No.1 2022
The Gundog Estate range is bewilderingly huge nowadays, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of jewels in the lineup. This Shiraz was a winner last year, and the 2022 is even better. Sourced from the Freeman Vineyard in Pruneval, and as the back label says, this Shiraz has great natural balance. Clove, finely white peppery Shiraz with this lithe purple plum beauty to it. Unforced, still ripe and purple fruited. And lovely spice, it’s a show in how moderate Hilltops Shiraz can still be great and satisfying for $30. Best drinking: now or for a decade. 18/20, 93/100. 13%, $35. Would I buy it? Yes.
Paisley Silk Shiraz 2021
Derek Fitzgerald’s Paisley wines are unwaveringly full-flavoured (if very ripe) and often well-priced. This Barossa Shiraz is in the true Paisley style – it’s lush, ripe, and does all this for a few dollars. Squished berries and plums, a slick of vanilla (but it’s not oaky), and this lovely cosseting full and very ripe liqueured blackberry palate. Warm and inviting stuff, if very ripe. Best drinking: I’d go in the next five to eight. 17.7/20, 92/100. 14.9%, $30. Would I buy it? A few glasses.
Sapling Yard Gamay 2022
There is shedloads of fun, interesting wines in the Sapling Yard range. It doesn’t always work, but there is thought and challenge here. This Gamay is super vital too, with fruit drawn from the estate at Braidwood + Tumbarumba. It’s a smoky, tangy, early-picked, light-framed style with a bony whole bunch spice and a little ferrous tang. Sapid is just a little bitter; I see the Tumby fruit peaking through here, with just enough lucid cherry and underripe raspberry fruit to counter the bitterness. I like the fragrance and sapidity so much here, even if the boniness might scare some off. Best drinking: over the next five years (but I’d go early). 17.7/20, 92/100. 12.8%, $32. Would I buy it? Worth a few glasses.
Sapling Yard Hilltops Shiraz 2022
There’s a sleeping giant in NSW red wine, and its name is Hilltops. Or something. This seems much more luscious than 13% should deliver. Compote red plum and grape Rollup Hilltops fruit. Only medium-weight and a great mix of glossy fruit and savoury plum fruit. Lovely juicy purpleness without being alcoholic. Enjoyable, honest and delicious drink. For $28 this is a big ‘buy’ from me. Best drinking: over the next decade, but probably best within eight. 17.7/20, 92/100. 13%, $28. Would I buy it? Worth half a bottle.
Burge Family Winemakers Homestead Old Vine Mataro 2020
Derek from Paisley also makes the Burge Family Winemakers wines now too, and he really pays homage to the evocative style that Rick Burge’s wines adhered to. This is all chocolate Turkish delight, a bit of exotic sweetness, black texta and liqueured berries. Gee, it’s ripe and luscious. It even feels younger than some of the other wines in this lineup, with this wave of lavish, vanillan blackberry sweetness of flavour – it’s so generous. Too much? Maybe, but man, the Barossa hedonism is real. Best drinking: I like this style when it is younger, so over the next five years. 17.7/20, 92/100. 15.5%, $35. Would I buy it? A glass.
Burge Family Winemakers Homestead G.S.M. 2020
This is even riper Barossan wine. Thick and very ripe. Deep blood red colours, and such a hefty style that is sloser to port base than anything. Indeed, it’s incredibly concentrated with cooked plum, fig, raisins, molasses, and plum essence. It’s boozy, caramelised, generous, soft and warmth with cosseting flavour at every turn. Forward, older looking than the straight Mataro, but hard to ignore, it’s a wine en mode that’s not my drink but admirable in its style. Best drinking: nowish. 17.5/20, 91/100. 15.3%, $35. Would I buy it? A glass.
Burge Family Winemakers Wilsford Merlot 2021
Wilsford is a new range that seeks to provide drinking pleasure with an ‘artisanal approach in the vineyard and winery. Intense dark red – it’s thick. Ultra ripe fruit cake fruit, with this huge expanse of plump, cooked plum and fig fruit, then even more richness thanks to the vanilla bean oak. Again, this isn’t my sort of wine, but man, this packs in a hugely expansive mid-palate richness for $25. Best drinking: nowish. 17.5/20, 91/100. 15%, $25. Would I buy it? A glass.
d’Arenberg Footbolt Shiraz 2021
This isn’t fancy artisan wine; it’s Shiraz food for the people. Affordable, mouthfilling, hearty and $22. Great colour, then a typical d’Arenberg nose of plums, black earth, a little spice, then a substantial plum palate that is medium bodied but feels plenty substantial enough with its hearty earthen feel. Best drinking: over the next decade. 17.5/20, 91/100. 14.5%, $22. Would I buy it? A glass.
Gundog Estate Hilltops Shiraz No.2 2022
A step behind the No.1 (obvs!) but still a bright and boysenberried Hilltops red. The oak stands out on the first approach to give this a vanilla boysenberry ice cream sweetness, which contrasts the otherwise gentle and affable raspberried light palate. You could easily confuse this with something, not Shiraz. Pleasant, milky red prettiness, even if it’s a bit of a singular wine. Best drinking: over the next decade. 17.5/20, 91/100. 13%, $35. Would I buy it? Worth a few glasses.
Gundog Estate Smoking Barrel Shiraz 2022
A blend of Hunter & Hilltops fruit for this Gundog red. Black spice and a subdued pithy palate lifted up by vanilla Play-Doh oak. It’s a bit pointy, grainy, and undoubtedly savoury but a bit dark and ungenerous. Length drags it over the line, however – there is more than meets the eye here! Best drinking: over the next decade. 17.5/20, 91/100. 13.5%, $30. Would I buy it? Worth a glass.
Paisley Turntable GSM 2021
There’s a similar vibe here to the Paisley above, and it’s so welcoming. The Turntable is a luscious and very ripe Barossan GSM with a huge expanse of flavour. Treacle, cooked plum, with a plump, soft-edged, black-fruited palate of lifted oak and purple fruit. It’s a fudgy, round, mouth-filling, unsubtle wine of quite uncomplicated appeal. Best drinking: will live for a decade, but drink before then. 17.5/20, 91/100. 14.7%, $25. Would I buy it? Worth a glass or two.
Patritti Cabernet Sauvignon 2021
McLaren Vale Cabernet from Patritti. There’s quite a bit of the Reynella vibe here, which is typical for Vale Cabernet. Tobacco leaf and fern, but it’s a ripe, pencilly, blackcurrant wine underneath, the oak giving a layer of cooking chocolate and then a mushroomy beefiness. The nose is Cabernet, the palate McLaren vale. This is ripe and plenty substantial for $28. Best drinking: nowish, no hurry. 17.5/20, 91/100. 14.5%, $28. Would I buy it? A glass or two
Sapling Yard The Extrovert 2022
Another red from Hilltops fruit: Mourvedre Shiraz Grenache that spends 10 months in oak. Quite a deal of whole bunch of spice and lots of stalky interest, and it is hard to pick a variety here, despite the obvious quality. There’s a real spicy influence here though, that I quite like. Best drinking: nowish. 17.5/20, 91/100. 13.2%, $30. Would I buy it? A few glasses.
Chapel Hill The Parson Grenache Shiraz Mourvedre 2022
Lots of glossy Dubey primary fruit in this very well-priced McLaren Vale red. No oak, little tannins, all mid-weight purple fruit. It’s a straightforward and slightly short release this year. But such jubey fun that it deserves a mention in this list. Best drinking: now. 16.5/20, 88/100. 14.5%, $18. Would I buy it? A glass.
El Toro Macho Superior Tempranillo Bobal 2021
A $5.99 Aldi-exclusive steal. 70% Tempranillo, 30% Bobal, all from Utiel Requena in Spain. This has a rustic baked brick edge, leathery but bright enough red fruits, a slick of faux oak vanilla and then actual tannins and a lean finish. It’s just a bit cardboardy and leathery, but damn it is substantial for $5.99! I’m not going to pretend this is serious, or intense, or polished, but it is easily the best $5.99 I’ve had in ages. Best drinking: now. 16.5/20, 88/100. 12.5%, $5.99. Would I buy it? Probably not, but I would recommend it widely.
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2 Comments
Funny I can remember the Wilsford name from the early 60’s – soon after coming to Australia my parents used to go to Wilsford wines (outside Gawler en route to the Barossa) to buy flagons of hock. Not the same mob, surely?
Who knows. But the wine is easy drinking fare.