2020 2022 Best Wines Under $50

Herbs, blue fruits and spice on the nose. Mulberries, blueberries, spice, dried herbs and black pepper on the palate. This is drink by itself friendly, food friendly and just generally friendly, but in a serious kinda way. Because there’s no mistaking this wine is both classy and very well put together. Learn More

A richer, fuller Chardy than the previous vintage as a buttery texture caresses stonefruits including nectarine. A mouth filling wine that finishes long and mineral. Excellent! Learn More

Andrew Miller is a Champagne nutter who decided to become a winemaker. After graduating from Roseworthy college, he did a vintage in Champagne with Cote de Blancs producer Guy Jacopin and in spite of no shared language learned much about the art of winemaking and specifically blending. This Artis wines pay homage to Mr. Jacopin. This exceptional Pinot Gris is both textural, with lively superb acidity and citrus emerging from the inclusion of 9% Clare Riesling, complexing the pear laden, Adelaide Hills Pinot Gris. Soft, round, citrussy and delicious. Learn More

Only 200 doz were made of this exceptional Vermentino which picked up a gold and top gold medal at both the Royal Adelaide and Barossa Wine Shows! Offers citrus and pear aromatics and a textural palate redolent of nashi pear, apples, citrus wildflowers and a hint of marzipan. Superb. Learn More

Grown on the estate and sourced from quality growers, the grapes are and destemmed straight into the press to retain delicacy and aromatics and minimise colour transfer from the skins. The wine’s salmon pink colour is matched with a delicate strawberry aroma along with citrus blossom. The palate offers cherry & strawberry flavours and a creamy texture. The refined structure of the wine is highlighted by its subtle acidity and the elegance of very fine beading. Learn More

A brilliant, medium bodied, single vineyard temp with minimal oak influence. A wonderful red fruit and chocolate palate, complexity coming from the mix of red cherries, chocolate, supportive acidity and fine fruit tannins. Learn More

There’s big, and there’s this – a huge Barossa Shiraz loaded with black fruits, vanilla and plenty of cedary oak. The fruits are blues and black and we also found dark chocolate, black pepper, spice and more. This is a helluva mouthful and worth cracking with something red and meaty. Learn More

A beautifully sweetly fruited McLaren Vale Shiraz designed for drinking any time over the next decade. We found rich black fruits, liquorice, spice and a little dark chocolate. This is an engaging and relatively easy to drink wine, with a powerful core of fruit, a long finish and fine tannins. Learn More

Sourced from 3 incredible vineyards, one of which is 150 years of age, this exceptional Grenache is then fermented in a mix of ceramic eggs and large format French oak foudres. Lifted red fruit and florals pass the baton to a palate offering raspberries, cranberries and pomegranate. The fruit intensity is excellent and well matched by firm acidity. The finish comes slowly, traversing as it does a lengthy pathway of fine tannins. Learn More

Bright tropical fruits with guava and green mango melding with apple and a citric acid zing. A little skin contact is allowed during ferment to encourage texture and ferment is completed in concrete eggs. Planted in in 1992, the Hoopers had their first vintage in '96, eventually achieving organic and biodynamic certification in 2005. Their entire operation is off grid. Learn More

Carlos Serres is a bit of an OG - one of the few Rioja producers with a century of winemaking behind them. Carlos was actually named Charles, a French Winemaker who left Bordeaux, fed up with dealing with phylloxera riddled vineyards, landing in Spain. He founded the first winery in Rioja with export certification and applied French winemaking techniques to Rioja fruit. Pretty soon, there was a demand for Rioja in the rest of Europe and the US.

Carlos Serres Crianza is 100% Tempranillo and spends 14 months in a combo of French and American oak. Being 'Crianza', the wine has spent a year in barrel, and another on bottle prior to release. Typically aged in older oak, Crianza can have quite assertive tannins and fruit which is intense whilst retaining great freshness. This is a particularly good example, packed with red fruits, cherries, spice, oak and nervy acidity.

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Expressive and fruit driven, this Barbera from Asti in Piedmont is deep, juicy and intense, stopping just short of being rich, though that will come with age. Fruit comes from estate vines grown in the Piedmont sub region of Asti, perhaps the best place in the world to grow Barbera. Specifically, the vines are on the slopes of the San Marzano hills. This wine is made in tiny quantities and is of exceptional quality. After a quick decant wonderful red fruits, violets, cherries, florals, earth, coffee and other goodies emerge. Wonderful now (though needs decanting, and will age beautifully. Learn More