20 wines of August 2025’s better wines under $25

Curiously enough, as a wine reviewer, you don’t really get to regularly taste many ‘value’ wines. Yes, some producers send the whole range in for review, but on the whole, it’s mainly a stream of premium products (that are likely to get premium scores, I guess).

Then again, I get to see an absolute shit tonne of value wines wearing my other hats, and working through brackets of $15 RRP wines tends to rob you of a love of wine anyway (and drive me to beer).

Maybe we’ll call it even.

Anyway, today I want to pull out a few wines that all sit below $25 RRP (and some a long way below) that are worth a second look – some of the value wines that have passed the desk lately I’d be happy to recommend. What’s even better about this selection is that there are plenty of widely available wines, covering winemakers big and small.

Let’s dive in.

Torzi Matthews Schist Rock Shiraz 2023

It’s almost a given that something in this list would be made by Dom Torzi, who is too honest with his pricing. This Schist Rock red is loaded with glossy, soft-textured, ripe dark purple blueberry and boysenberry Eden Valley Shiraz fruit that starts out pretty and then gets a bit bitter and black at the edges. It’s still only medium-bodied, but the concentration ramps up without losing that accessible purpleness. There’s a little warmth on the finish, but not enough to derail what is such a polished and silken expression of approachable (but not lacking in concentration) expression of Eden Valley Shiraz that is damn smart for $25.

Best drinking: over the next ten years. Good already. 17.7/20, 92/100. 14.5%, $25. Would I buy it? I’d share a bottle.

Wirra Wirra Church Block Grenache Shiraz 2024

Wirra don’t do things by halves, and even the rubber band holding the info on the neck of the bottle was Wirra Wirra blue (though somehow I didn’t take a photo of the rubber band or the bottle). This year, the Church Block range has expanded, going beyond the stalwart original Cabernet blend to now be three McLaren Vale red wines (and all still just $25 a bottle). This Grenache Shiraz is my favourite wine in the range, too, and it all comes down to the Grenache – it glows with the cranberry, raspberry and blueberry ripe joy of Vale Grenache, with red licorice and a red frog liqueur element that feels vibrant and vibrantly expressive. Part of the success story here is that the Grenache spends eight months in old oak, the Shiraz all in tank, which translates into a brightly fruit-forward wine but with a lucidity that outdoes its price point. Only medium bodied, maybe a little simple, but wow, it even has tannin finesse. Spot on.

Best drinking: good now, no hurry. 17.7/20, 92/100. 14.5%, $25. Would I buy it? Well worth a few glasses.

Bremerton Selkirk Shiraz 2022

I feel like these Bremerton wines have stayed at the same price now for a generation (which they probably have), and hot damn, these are full-bodied reds for less than full-bodied prices. This Shiraz is a real value highlight, and it’s way too much wine for $24. Full bodied, plushly oaked, with this warm and creamy purple boysenberry and choc bullet fruit binb palate that is super lush and soft. It’s a bit too much of a vanillan wall of warm flavour for me to drink more than a glass or two, but that plushness and that drive of plush purple fruit will slay wines twice or even three times the price.

Best drinking: will be even better in a year or two as the oak settles in, and then drink well for a decade. 17.5/20, 91/100. 14.5%, $24. Would I buy it? Just a glass, but would recommend.

Wirra Wirra Church Block Shiraz 2023

Importantly, all the new Church Block releases have a recognisable McLaren Vale signature to them. This Shiraz feels like the essence of Vale Shiraz. It spent 12 months in American and French oak, FWIW. There’s a bit of blackness here, a little bitter pinch of a warm year biting at the edges, but that also concentrates the fruit, with a palate that tends medium to full bodied, all dark fruit and cola with a bit of raspberry. It’s a bit drying on the finish, especially for this pricepoint, but that sweet black fruit mid-palate is proper Vale – sunshine, a tarry mid palate with flavours that are perfect for a day that includes a nude dip at the Maslin and then dinner at the Victory. Smart choice.

Best drinking: I’d go over the next decade. 17.5/20, 91/100. 14.5%, $25. Would I buy it? A glass or two.

Bremerton Tamblyn 2022

Let’s roll with another Bremerton value hero. This is Langhorne Creek Cabernet, Shiraz, Malbec and Merlot, which is like a bitsa blend, but it works. Awfully substantial wine. Luscious and ripe chocolate milkshake oak nose. It’s a flashy, ripe and lush thing. Oak is such a player here – you find yourself stuck on the chippy oak tannins, and that liquid chocolate thing is hard to miss. It’s more oak than sweet fruit, but super smooth, maybe a bit minty, and with more than sufficient tannins. Four square and proudly so – it’s a lot of wine for $20!

Best drinking: probably better in a year or two, and it will not fall over any time soon. 17/20, 90/100. 14.5%, $20. Would I buy it? A glass.

Zema Cluny Cabernet Merlot 2021

Another family making wines that don’t seem to go up in price. Acres of Coonawarra flavour for the dollars in this Cluny too. Lots of cedar and a little eucalypt – it’s a proper drying Cabernet, with a little dried meat and bark. It’s more tannic than plush, but great minty tannins. I’d like just a little more fruit through the middle, but this has heart.

Best drinking: better in 2-3 years and will still be going in a decade (or more). 17/20, 90/100. 14.5%, $23.99. Would I buy it? A glass.

Chapel Hill The Vinedresser Grenache 2024

Michael Fragos & co. at Chapel Hill have a well-earned rep for producing value drinks, which is why there are plenty of wines in this collection. This is a slightly syrupy, warm-hearted and open McLaren Vale Grenache of obvious appeal. A real flow of red raspberry and red licorice ripe fruit here – it’s leaning into kirsch liqueur warmth, but never heavy, just ripe-fruited. Plenty to like.

Best drinking: I’d drink over the next five to eight years. 17/20, 90/100. 14%, $25. Would I buy it? A glass or two.

Nomad’s Garden Prosecco 2024

Ben Dahlenburg’s wines are too cheap for the quality, too, but he’s so modest about it that I can’t argue. This Prosecco comes from the Glenmore Springs Vineyard in the King Valley. It’s a super fresh and vibrant style that feels more like DOCG fare than some of the lemonade-masquerading-as-Prosecco we see locally. It tastes of soda water, white flowers, chalk, with a mode nothing but lightness and brightness on the palate. Super lean and super pristine. Arguably underripe and too lean, but superb clarity here at every turn.

Best drinking: now. 17/20, 90/100. 10.5%, $24. Would I buy it? A glass.

Wirra Wirra Church Block Cabernet Shiraz Merlot 2023

The classic. A blend of 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 38% Shiraz and 8% Merlot this vintage (the percentages tend to change but not by much). Fun fact: About 15 years ago, at a Wirra Wirra trade event at the winery, I was the captain of a table of wine folk challenged to make Church Block using the blending components. I undercooked the volume of Merlot, and we came second (to Anthony Madigan’s team, from memory). Anyway, good old Church Block remains a go-to wine. This 2023 is again super substantial for $25 – it’s very much Cabernet led, with a gruff, ever so slightly leafy, pencilly Cab personality marked by leaf litter and leather. It’s a bit ungenerous – more tannins than gloss – but the chewiness and unquestionable substantialness make this a rare $25 wine that will still be alive in a decade.

Best drinking: now or in a decade, no probs. 17/20, 90/100. 14.5%, $25. Would I buy it? A glass or two.

Bleasdale Langhorne Creek Sunset Block 99 Malbec 2022

Bleasdale have a long history of over-delivering (and makes some of the best Malbec in the land), and this Aldi-exclusive red doesn’t disappoint. It has a firm, choc minty Langhorne character to it, and plenty of tannins. Dark ruby coloured, it smells of mint and red earth, the palate dipping into cocoa powder oak and then the tannins kick in. It’s a little under fruited for all the minty tannin, but the lingering finish is of a much more salubrious wine. Much to like.

Best drinking: over the next five years before it dries out. 16.8/20, 89/100. 14%, $14.99. Would I buy it? Worth a glass or two.

Chapel Hill The Parson Grenache Shiraz Mourvèdre 2024

Bright, joyous, Grenache berry-laden young McLaren Vale red. Notice a theme here? McLaren Vale Grenache is a great thing. Minimal oak in this red, and lots of gummy bright fruit that picks up some darker bits as it travels through and remains a simple, light to medium, joyous red. Just a little tart to finish. Not fancy wine, but a very good drink for this price.

Best drinking: nowish. 16.8/20, 89/100. 14%, $18. Would I buy it? Worth a few glasses.

Chapel Hill The Vinedresser Tempranillo 2024

Bold and blackberried McLaren Vale Tempranillo. A little leaf and cola, quite forceful dark berry fruit, zero obvious oak. It’s just a little tannic and leafy for a joven style, but real fruit character still shines through here.

Best drinking: nowish. 16.8/20, 89/100. 14%, $25. Would I buy it? Worth a glass.

Eastern Laneway Vintners Grampians Shiraz 2024

Matt East & Rory Lane’s Aldi-exclusive label has been a winner since the start, and I’d be disappointed if this new release didn’t hit the mark. Fascinating to see this alongside the Langi below – two Grampians reds side by side. The Langi has more of the family stamp, while this is more glossy and polished. A mid-weight, purple-fruited and easy wine that slips on through with its purple shade. It’s a little simple and lightish this vintage, but that glossy, grapey Grampians plum note lifts it up. Very likeable for $15.

Best drinking: nowish. 16.8/20, 89/100. 13.5%, $15. Would I buy it? Worth a glass.

Mount Langi Ghiran Pepper Series Shiraz 2023

Another Aldi-exclusive, and another bargain. It’s every bit a Langi Ghiran Shiraz too, just with a slightly lighter shade. Mushroom, pepper, slightly stewy but not heavy purple fruit, it’s barely mid-weight, with an impressive peppery signature, and a little heartiness. It’s probably not as defined as a more top-end red from Langi, but it more than does the job. A no-brainer at this price.

Best drinking: over the next five years. 16.8/20, 89/100. 13.5%, $16. Would I buy it? Worth a glass.

Bremerton Coulthard Cabernet Sauvignon 2023

Lots and lots of wine. That’s the takeaway with this spearminty, rather classic Langhorne Creek Cabernet. Bold tannins, lots of extract and muscle, even if the minty character makes it a bit unfriendly. You can chew on the finish. Still, on length and Cabernet drive this has plenty to recommend.

Best drinking: it’s just a bit unwieldy now, so a few years might be beneficial. 16.5/20, 88/100. 14.5%, $24. Would I buy it? A glass.

Chapel Hill The Vinedresser Cabernet Sauvignon 2023

Another hearty Cabernet. Dark colours, plenty of Cabernet charisma here too, though it leans a bit too much into eucalyptus bitter tannin without the fruit to make it delicious. Loads of gruff mint heartiness again here though. You won’t die wondering, and the chewy heart will win friends.

Best drinking: now and whenever. The tannins might take over, but it will not die. 16.5/20, 88/100. 14%, $25. Would I buy it? A glass.

Chapel Hill The Vinedresser Shiraz 2023

A rugged Vale red that has plenty of stuffing. Red plum fruit here again with a bit of the 2023 vintage darkness at the edges. The flash of plum fruit juiciness can’t quite keep up with the rest of the palate, with firm acidity and a bit of tannic rawness that makes it a bit more rugged. Again, lots to chew on here.

Best drinking: nowish. 16.5/20, 88/100. 14.5%, $25. Would I buy it? A glass.

Taylors Special Release Adelaide Hills Chardonnay 2023

Another Aldi-exclusive and although it’s very much not my preferred style, I can acknowledge the commercial winemaking skill behind the scenes to make this appealing for $15 (and which helps it win medals at international wie shows). A light, lemon cream nose, with banana esters, some apple cream yeast and reduction to drive the nose, over a crisp, lean palate that is rounded out by some grainy oak tannin bite and slightly unripe sharp acidity. This straddles that line of ‘peachy flavour’ and ‘a crisp finish’ well – it’s a very ‘made’ wine, but consciously so.

Best drinking: nowish. 16.5/20, 88/100. 12.5%, $14.99. Would I buy it? Not really, but I’d recommend.

Yalumba The Y Series Tempranillo 2022

Sure, this doesn’t have the same score or cache as some of the other wines, but the price very important – I found this in a 10 second Google search for $9.52 a bottle, and it’s awfully drinkable for less than whatever the term is for a ten dollar note these days (note: apparently it’s a blue swimmer, which I’ve never heard before). South Australian Tempranillo here. A bit of rubbery reduction, then a somewhat confected dusty red and black berry palate with a more substantial mid palate that gives this some medium bodied weight. Falls away a fraction but conceivably varietal Tempranillo. Entirely fine for $15, and too good for under $10.

Best drinking: now. 16.3/20, 87/100. 14%, $15. Would I buy it? A glass.

Yalumba Y Series Pinot Noir 2024

This is a slight step below the Tempranillo, but for a Pinot that also sits at the $10 mark on special, it takes some beating. Jubey, a little sweet, but commercially sound Aussie Pinot Noir, that’s the vibe. A bit thin, yes, but varietal cherry fruit, something a bit stewy and mulchy, though again, it says Pinot Noir. This is fine for price and style.

Best drinking: now. 16/20, 86/100. 13.5%, $15. Would I buy it? Probably not, but I’d recommend.

THE VERDICT

• Best drinking:
• Score (out of 20):
• Score (out of 100):
• Alcohol %:
• RRP (in $AUD):
• Winery website:
• Would I buy it?: