10 of May 2025’s best Shiraz, Syrah and Shiraz Cabernet + a few full-flavoured reds for dessert

Australian Shiraz is a much more diverse world than it gets credit for.

Globally, there is still this shortsighted assumption that Barossa Shiraz is what our entire continent makes, as if we only have one climate and one region. Yawn. Yet as this lineup of 10 of May 2025’s best Shiraz, Syrah and Shiraz Cabernet shows, there is shitload more light and shade to this most Aussie grape and thank the lord/your chosen deity for that.

So, ten wines of quality here from May, and I’ve also tacked on a few other full-flavoured reds for your drinking pleasure (just in case you don’t want to drink Shiraz-based reds on a Friday night).

Let’s go:

Angove McLaren Vale Shiraz 2022

This is a huge bargain. Richard Angove is doing excellent work at the Angove family’s McLaren Vale outpost, and this affordable Shiraz is packed with character for $28. Plush, plump, a little tarry, has that dark chocolate fudge richness of Vale Shiraz with acres of flavour. All mid palate, chocolate, plums and lusciousness without feeling baked. Hard to fault this.

Best drinking: now and for a decade. 18/20, 93/100. 14.5%, $28. Would I buy it? Sure would.

Corang Estate Reserve Selection Shiraz 2022

Jill & Michael Bynon have a vineyard at Oallen, near the Corang River on the Great Dividing Range east of Canberra. This isn’t typically wine country, except that Carla Rodeghiero’s Sapling Yard Vineyard isn’t far from the Bynon’s property at Braidwood. There are wines from all over southern NSW under the Corang Estate label, too, with this red from the Hilltops. It’s a seriously affable mid-weight thing, with a flush of juicy, gummy, slightly fizzy purple plum and blackberry fruit too. It’s generous and also crisp, although it never gets out of a medium-bodied mode, with a bit of energy to the finish too. Very drinkable.

Best drinking: good now, no hurry. 17.5/20, 91/100. 13.5%, $42. Would I buy it? Worth a glass or two.

Meerea Park Hell Hole Shiraz 2023

Welcome back, Meerea Park, it’s a pleasure to see this polished under the Eather boys’ label. This Shiraz has classic Hunter lines too. A little baked earth, with a proper dark flourish, just a little mulberry syrup and an ultra juicy cranberried mode. That soft fruit really fills out the palate, and you never really acknowledge that it’s actually a well-built Hunter red underneath. Perhaps it’s too primary, but that mouthful of fruit is lovely.

Best drinking: now and for an easy decade. 18/20, 93/100. 13.5%, $60. Would I buy it? Worth sharing a bottle as a start.

Meerea Park Terracotta Syrah 2023

Includes 10% Marsanne, which is lots of white wine in a Hunter Shiraz. It doesn’t derail things, but you can definitely taste a bit of stonefruit. Otherwise, a mid-weight, slightly jubey, easy red fruited wine with surprisingly fine tannins. A little light on in depth and structure, but has genuine violet and earthen Hunter Valley Shiraz highlights.

Best drinking: now is good. 17.7/20, 92/100. 13.5%, $75. Would I buy it? A glass is good.

MMAD Blewitt Springs Shiraz 2023

Another super impressive release under this super impressive label. 2023 isn’t the easiest McLaren Vale Shiraz vintage, but Wadewitz et al have made it translate into a deep, slightly bitter, powerful high calibre red. Licorice and choc bullets, this has a glossy texture but its also a black and drying beast too, with this withering strap of darkness that had me thinking about a Bandol Mourvedre blend rather than some luscious McLaren Vale Shiraz. I’m in two minds about when to drink this. Option a) is nowish, given that it might get even more drying with time. Option b) takes into account how that darkness will deliver a wine with guts for the future. Buy two bottles?

Best drinking: choose your own adventure. 18.5/20, 94/100. 13.5%, $77. Would I buy it? A very interesting wine. Well worth a bottle.

Shaw & Smith Balhannah Vineyard Shiraz 2022

When I first opened this Adelaide Hills Shiraz, I thought it was a stalky Pinot. I even wrote down how much this was a departure in style for the Shaw & Smith Pinot range. It’s too ripe and dark-fruited to be Pinot, which I picked up on the second sip, too, but that initial impact is interesting. There’s this autumnal note here, with tomato juice, pan juices, black pepper and dark cherry, before a slightly sweet and sour, layered palate. It’s a moody wine – you don’t see the alcohol as it’s a bit too spicy and currant-y, and I wouldn’t mind just a bit more plushness to up the drinkability, but I can’t deny the length and complexity on show.

Best drinking: time will be kind to resolve things a bit. Drink over a decade. 18/20, 93/100. 14%, $99. Would I buy it? A glass or two for contemplation.

Silkwood Estate The Walcott Shiraz 2019

There are plenty of surprises in the Silkwood range. This is a lavish and oaky full-bodied Pemberton red with a surprisingly big personality. Peppercorns, minty tannins and a firmish finish, with a mushroom and plum fruit wallop that is substantial. Flavour and local charisma, even if the extract and chewiness is a bit much.

Best drinking: good now. 17.5/20, 91/100. 13.5%, $35. Would I buy it? A glass.

Steels Gate Melba Block Shiraz 2020

Great colour for a five-year-old Yarra Shiraz. A thoroughly enjoyable wine it is too. Some leaf litter and mulch with bottle-aged tertiary earth popping up, but a lovely Pinot-esque mid-weight red in there too. Cranberry, mulch, boysenberry and just the right amount of leafy/bright fruit contrasts. Tasty.

Best drinking: nowish, no hurry. 18/20, 93/100. 13.5%, $45. Would I buy it? Worth a bottle.

St Hugo Attunement Shiraz Cabernet 2018

A new (or at least new to me) super blend from St Hugo. Barossa Shiraz and Cabernet from the Barossa and Coonawarra. Even at seven years old, it’s a concentrated and youthful red – this is a stayer. Deep and slightly warm style, there is just a little figgy warmth, but an acre of dark red fruit and black, tarry power. If this had just a bit less hearty heat this would be a sublime wine. As it is, this slides between two categories – I admire the black intensity, sweet black mocha black and lots of life, and enough for a high silver. I’d just like this to be a bit less warm to finish.

Best drinking: now and for decades. It may never die. 18/20, 93/100. 14.5%, $100. Would I buy it? A glass.

Torzi Matthews Francesco Grillo Collina Calcarea Syrah 2024

Dom Torzi’s Eden Valley Syrah now comes with no added preservatives. A lithe and squishy thing it is, too – white pepper, purple plums, the same milk chocolate vibe that has been in every vintage, too. There’s a bit of a vin de soif early drinking ease to this vintage, and it’s only medium-bodied but also has welcome fine tannins. Less profound this vintage, but a real drinking wine.

Best drinking: nowish. 17.5/20, 91/100. 13.8%, $38. Would I buy it? Let’s share a bottle.

More full-flavoured reds of interest

Juniper Cornerstone Karridale Cabernet Sauvignon 2019

Not Shiraz, but a proper top dog Margaret River red. Spends 16 months in 35% new oak, and even at six, it’s youthful. Classy dark berries, caramel coffee chocolate and shaped by tannins rather than fruit power. The acid and tannins make this just a bit angular, but there is a classy density of flavour and structure here that makes it a dead serious Cabernet.

Best drinking: you could likely wait and get even more joy. Then drink over decades. 18/20, 93/100. 13.5%, $80. Would I buy it? A glass or two.

Juxtaposed McMurtrie Vineyard Sangiovese 2023

‘I want this wine to be approachable and versatile’ says Wes Pearson. McLaren vale Sangio, matured in large oak, just 180 six packs made. Blueberries, red berries, a bit of tarry blackness in there, but it’s not abrasive – there’s a proper Sangio forest berry mode here. As ever with Wes’ wines, the acid is well handled, the sense here is of a savoury, berried, attractive thing that shows no oak heaviness and plenty of punchy, but not heavy, dark fruit. Probably more McLaren Vale through the mid palate (rather than Tuscany) and overall good drinking.

Best drinking: good now, no hurry. 17.7/20, 92/100. 14%, $33. Would I buy it? A few glasses.

Smith & Hooper Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot 2022

There’s a reason why this wine does well on the show circuit – it’s ridiculously good for a $21 red. Almost too good – if it had a $35 pricetag, it would probably get more love, just to remind that pricing models are dumb. Dark and serious, a little minty and unquestionably tannic, medium-bodied savoury red. Reminds me of the structure that Coonawarra can do so well, although not quite super premium fruit concentration. Still, this has a distinct Wrattonbully spearmint and dark berry tannic expanse too. This is an expansive wine – it manages the slight vegetal notes and luscious berry fruit perfectly. Too minty? Meh, it’s a bargain, especially in retail land where I’ve seen it for an astonishing $19. Buy buy buy (said in a Backstreet Boys voice).

Best drinking: now and in a decade. Did I mention it’s a bargain? 17.7/20, 92/100. 13.5%, $21. Would I buy it? In a regional BWS this would be a hero red. Well worth a bottle.

St Hugo Cabernet Shiraz 2022

A blend of Barossa and Coonawarra fruit for this St Hugo red as well, and it’s a powerhouse – inky, dark berry fruit, all thick blackberry and blackcurrant notes with bold cedary tannins. Old school, yes, oaky, yes, impressively dense and structured in an old school Australian way? Also yes. Fascinatingly, I wrote that note just before trotting off to Canberra, where the 2021 iteration of this same wine lobbed up and I gave it a gold medal score. Runs on the board, right? Importantly, I think of all the St Hugo wines this has the best balance – really bold and blackberried, with a wall of tannins and yet luscious enough to carry it off. Quality stuff..

Best drinking: better in five years and then drink over two decades. 18.5/20, 94/100. 14.5%, $54.99. Would I buy it? I’d like a bottle of this in my cellar. Not for drinking now, but later.

St Hugo GSM 2024

Way too young and unready. Julcy, gummy purple Barossan thing that feels every bit a tank sample. Primary boysenberry fruit and lots of it, downplayed tannins, the mode juicy and lithe. It’s not light-bodied, but a sense of approachability. An enjoyable drink, if not quite profound.

Best drinking: better next year. 17.5/20, 91/100. 14%, $54.99. Would I buy it? A glass.

Torzi Matthews Old Vines GSM 2023

From two Barossan vineyards dating back to 1914 and 1932. It’s astonishing that right now on Dom Torzi’s website this red is just $22. Man, that’s a lot of wine for $22. It’s a more smudgey ripe wine this year – a ripe wine of caramel and woodsmoke over a core of warm, slightly syrupy black and red fruit. Juicy, a fraction spirity and quite full throttle for Dom, this has a baked red earth volume to it. No shortage of heart and a bloody bargain for $22.

Best drinking: good now, will live for a decade. 17.7/20, 92/100. 14%, $28 (RRP). Would I buy it? For these dollars, heck yes.