Clare Valley, SA McLaren Vale, SA 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 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

We have long been fans of Claymore. The Dark Side of the Moon is their best and most underpriced wine, offering spice, dark fruits, raspberries, concentration, and plenty of fine tannins. As always, there is a smoothness and polish to this wine which belies its sub $30 price point. Learn More

Claymore have a habit of producing excellent Riesling and that habit is no danger here. Displaying everything you’d want in a young Riesling, lifted aromatics, crisp acidity and succulent lime. A silky palate that extends to a long dry finish just leaves you wanting more. Learn More

A beautifully fragrant Grenache packed to the gunnels with bright and delicious red fruits, spice and lip tingling acidity. Awesome with a range of savoury dishes, especially crispy pork. 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

A wonderful Grenache with a little age. New school bright fruit and exceptionally deftly placed tannins meet high-quality, old-school oak. Ned Goodwin from the Halliday Wine Companion wrote a year ago ‘too much mocha-vanilla-infused oak enshrouding this, the fruit and structural latticework beyond it is sublime, auguring well for future change... Raspberry bon-bon, thyme, orange zest and lavender. The acidity, juicy and palpably natural. The grape tannins, lithe and etched with grace... I score this with the promise to which I hold it.’ A year later and this wine’s time has arrived, it is a ripper! Learn More

Powerful, inky black McLaren Vale fruit was basket pressed into a mix of older French and American oak where it spent 18 months. Saturated with ripe black fruits, cacao, cherries, milk and dark chocolate, and spice. Finished with a reassuring crown of cedar and fine tannins. Learn More

Sourced entirely from the Dowie vineyard in Blewitt Springs which was planted in 1933. These may be the oldest, still bearing chenin blanc vines in Australia. The wine launches with notes of struck match, reflective of the barrel work done with this wine in French oak. The palate is textural, offering red fruits, lemon, ginger, orange blossom with a wonderfully creamy aspect, with some cedary grain from the oak. Acid is plentiful, the finish long and mineral. This is lovely already and will improve for a decade or more. It is on track to be an absolute stunner. Learn More

Since 1996, Chris Thomas has maintained a shiraz solera which form part of this lip smacking sparkling. The solera contains some of the best shiraz Chris has made over the last 20+ years and is used sparingly and exclusively to add the finishing touches to his sparkling shiraz each year and adds depth of flavour and complexity. This is sparkling shiraz as we love it- opulent, slightly sweet, with richness, complexity, oak and plenty of fine tannins. That structure combined with flavours of blackberry, cherry. dark chocolate and spice making this a perfect accompaniment to protein, like roast chook, bacon and eggs, etc. It's bloody good. Learn More

A brilliantly complex yet powerful Shiraz. The Blewitt Springs plantings provide fragrance and delicious blue fruits, the California Road plantings bring blackstrap, black and blue fruits, power and chewy tannins. Wonderful already and should comfortably improve for more than a decade. Learn More

You can have 2 out of 3. Power, fragrance and balance. Actually, this wine manages all 3, a fresh, red fruit and floral aromatics lead to a palate which is both crunchy yet smooth and laden with mulberry, cherries, marzipan, vanilla, cured meats and white pepper. A stunner! Learn More