Kilikanoon 2023 Best Wine Deals

At an average north of $90 retail per bottle, these might not scream 'Friday night Pizza' but at a tick under $30 a bottle in this bundle, maybe we can make a case for it... and at a bottle a week, we've got the next 13 weeks of Friyay evenings gourmet exhalations elevated to someplace very fine indeed.

So, what will you have next Friday?

Pasha's 97 point McLaren Shiraz which had Kim Brebach in raptures, saying 'The integration of fruit and oak is as seamless as I’ve seen in an Aussie red'? Dandelion's Firehawk Shiraz- off their best McLaren Vale vineyard? Sidewood's savoury Adelaide Shiraz which iced a lazy dozen gold medals with 96 points from Halliday? Showblock's incredible Reserve Shiraz? Kilikanoon's Flagship Cabernet? Perhaps, Longview's Trophy winning Cab ... decant this one!

OR, maybe you just want to start with the Lone Palm, the big gun. Imagine Marvin Gaye reinterpreting death metal (when he was alive, obvs), or Chuck Norris taking up Tai Chi. Molten lava given the Gaviscon treatment, Chewbacca reciting 'Shall I compare thee to a Summer's day', you get the idea. It's one of those 'Iron fist in a velvet glove' jobbies - incredibly powerful and densely fruited yet so perfectly put together that it is a joy to drink already.

Just need to choose that pizza now.

A fabulous selection of alt reds with plenty of new stuff. The trophy winning Clare Grenache from Kilikanoon and the superb 95 point Durif from Curtis have been in our stable for a while. The new stuff? Magical old vine Grenache from Songlines and a superb old vine Mataro Grenache blend, both from the Barossa, both made by Tom White of Lone Palm fame! They are both superb. Also a couple of new to us Barossa beauties from White Gate. White Gate are low-fi, or perhaps more accurately, light touch. They work primarily with organic and biodynamic producers, pick early and make minimal additions to the wine during ferment and prior to bottling. They figure that starting with A-grade fruit and picking a bit earlier than the norm allows them to bypass a lot of the corrective work that has to be otherwise undertaken to ensure wine stability and longevity. As a bonus, this allows the fruit to really shine. The proof is in the pudding and we can heartily attest that the pud is good!

A premium alternatives pack which we think is a bit of a no-brainer. We kick off with the following four Aussie alternatives. After Five's 5 trophy winning Barossa Montepulciano, which is as good a Monte we have ever seen. From Kilikanoon, their stunning, $96, 96 point, flagship Grenache. Artis brings us a magnificently perfumed Nero and Songlines, an old vine, 100% whole bunch Barossa Grenache. Then we have a Riserva Chianti from the low yielding and fabulous 2020 vintage, and a densely powerful Rioja, made by one of just 2 producers who are more than a century old. These are all excellent and we've no doubt you'll have as much fun with them as we do..