2018 Vegan Best Wines Under $50

Aglianico, perhaps like Nebbiolo is a wine of extremes. The nose, with red fruits and rose petals, is reminiscent of a light, perhaps delicate wine but the palate weight and tannins are at the other end of the scale. There’s rose petals, dark fruits and sage in the mix, liquorice, red fruit and a super long tannin finish. Definitely a food wine. Learn More

This is just the second release of Firehawk Farm which is produced from Dandelion’s finest vineyard. There is mammoth concentration of fruit here and perfect integration of fruit, oak and acid. Closed on opening, this morphs into an absolute stunner as is breathes and opens over several days. Sweet fruit, searing acid, savoury complexities, chocolate, graphite and blue fruits are all on show along with earthiness, cedar and plenty of tannin. This might just be the McLaren Vale’s best Shiraz. Learn More

Brightly fruited with struck match handing the baton to stonefruits, pancake batter and melon. As you sip, swirl and taste, the flavors deepen and increase in richness and depth. Already excellent, this will be exceptional in a few more years. Learn More

Produced from Heirloom’s best Barossa Vineyard. Fruit is open fermented and basket pressed into French oak. This is a rich and concentrated Shiraz, with black fruits propelled along a tightrope of elegant acidity towards a fine tannin finish. Long and delicious. Learn More

This is top end Coonawarra Cab done right. A grade vines are hand tended, the fruit bunch sorted, open fermented, basket pressed and put into superb French oak for a couple of years. Red fruits, mulberries, bramble, olives, dried herbs are all in the mix. The palate is extremely powerful, textural, intense and long. An exceptional, single vineyard Coonawarra Cab. Learn More

Low yields, very careful fruit selection, hands on winemaking with whole bunches and open fermentation and the use of high quality French and Bulgarian oak have conspired again to produce a stunningly intense McLaren Vale Shiraz. It offers blackberries and cedary oak, great length and deeply intense silken black and blue fruits, anise and chocolate all settling nicely into a really satisfying drink. Super intense, chewy and rich but not overblown. Awesome now and should cellar beautifully. Remarkable value for money. Learn More

A full bodied, intense and varietal Cab from the warm 2018 vintage, tamed by close to 2 years’ maturation in 60% new French oak, and a few years bottle age. Drinking beautifully already, this offers black fruits, violet, tobacco leaf and dark chocolate. Works beautifully with all things lamb. Learn More