South Australia Wine Packs

Previous editions of '13 Bottles for 13 Bucks Apiece' have performed brilliantly, selling heaps, with a really high percentage of repeat orders. Fair call too, as they contained genuinely excellent wines at quaffing prices. It's taken us a while, but we reckon we've upped the ante here, increasing the quality while retaining the original price point. This time you'll get three each of a delightful McLaren Cab blend, the magnificent $75-a-bottle Angas King Reserve Shiraz, Red Deer's 95-point old vine Shiraz, and a lovely organic Shiraz. The 13th bottle? Curtis' old vine, 96-point, $100-a-bottle Small Batch Shiraz. Phwoar! Learn More

Our 13-bucks-a-bottle baker's dozens have really taken off over the last few months, so here's another one for your consideration. All up, 13 lovely bottles worth $649 for just $169.

Leading the way here are three bottles of Showblock's exceptional 95 point Cab Shiraz, an $85 RRP, deeply-fruited beauty. You'll also get three Karl's Scepter Barossa Shiraz, a rich and satisfying, black fruit and chocolate laden number. There are three bottles of the Red Deer Langhorne Cab, with blue fruits, dried herbs and a plush palate, and three bottles of 12 Noon's organic Shiraz, which is ageing beautifully. Finally, a bottle of Curtis Small Batch Shiraz, an old vine, 96 point, $100-a-bottle stunner.

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A wonderful mix, all ready to drink any time over the next year or two. We lead off with the Growers Gate Pinot Grigio and Chardy, which are both easy drinking and textural. The Cape Jaffa is clean, crisp and tropical. The 12 Noon organic Shiraz is black, rich and lush; the Scepter Shiraz medium bodied with ripe black and red fruits; and the Red Deer Shiraz is a full throttle, old vine beauty! Read more about the winedirect.com.au Wine Club here or contact us at wineclub@winedirect.com.au for more info. Learn More

Four juicy and delicious reds designed for drinking in the near term. The Karl’s Scepter Shiraz brings lush black fruits, cedary oak, chocolate, spice, and more. The 12 Noon organic Shiraz is black, rich and lush, the Hastwell Cab blend medium bodied and refined, and the Red Deer Shiraz is a full throttle, old vine beauty! Read more about the winedirect.com.au Wine Club here or contact us at wineclub@winedirect.com.au for more info. Learn More

Four wonderful whites, all of which are drinking well now – no further cellaring required. We lead off with the Curtis 94 point Riesling, which is textural and packed with fruit and a lick of sweetness - perfect with spicy Asian dishes. The Growers Gates are easy drinking, with great texture, and the Cape Jaffa is clean, crisp and tropical. Read more about the winedirect.com.au Wine Club here or contact us at wineclub@winedirect.com.au for more info. Learn More

A magically intense, black, deep and profound expression of McLaren Vale Shiraz. There are intense black and blue fruits, toasty cedar, vanilla, blackberries and more on the go here. It’s well balanced and therefore enjoyable now but will also reward extended cellaring. Enjoy any time over the next 20 years. Learn More

A Chardonnay, how we love thee! 6 cracking examples here from all over the place, including the Adelaide Hills, Limestone Coast, the Hunter and the Coonawarra. Spearheaded by Heirloom's 2018 reserve, worth $60 a bottle and Sidewood's 96 Halliday pointed and 6 gold medal winning stunner. All up $212 worth of delicious Chardy for just $140. Learn More

Just a tick over $13 a bottle for these excellent PGs, all of which are drinking beautifully. Monterra, from the Adelaide Hills, has a gold medal in tow and offers crisp pears and green apple, bath powder, minerality and chalk. A stunner which you can drink any time over the next 5 years. The Growers Gate accents pear backed with a lick of lemony sweetness and an easygoing texture. The Ted's Place is prime drinking right now. We all loved it on the tasting panel - plenty of fruit and complexity here. Learn More

Gris VS Grigio

Gris is French for grey, Grigio is Italian for … wait for it ... grey!

Pinot Gris, or Grigio, if you prefer, hails from Burgundy in France, a region better known for producing eye-wateringly expensive Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

From Burgundy, it buggered off to all corners of the globe, and never really came home. There’s not much grown in Burgundy these days, but it might surprise you to know that, whilst uncommon, it is one of the seven allowed grape varietals in Champagne production, and at least one producer has made a Champagne entirely from Pinot Gris.

Its spiritual homes are arguably in Alsace, France, as ‘Pinot Gris’ and Northern Italy, where it goes by the name Pinot Grigio. You’ll find it in Trentino Alto Adige and Friuli Venezia, and some in Veneto, a bit further south.

Alsace makes the Gris style, which is ripe and textural and can have some residual sugar. The best of these are world-class, textural wines offering nectarine, honey, richness, salinity and some kind of otherworldly, umami-style magic. They work brilliantly with foods high in umami. Northern Italy makes an altogether crisper style, with high acidity, green apple, minerality and crispness. These go well with sushi and sashimi, a pear, rocket and walnut salad, and fried gyoza… it works with more than that, but you get the idea. PG is beloved elsewhere too, as Grauburgunder in Germany, as well as in NZ and Australia. Early Aussie Pinot G naming conventions didn’t follow the logic set out by the styles of Alsace and Italy, so you could pour an Aussie Grigio, only to find that it was weighty, pendulous and sense-enveloping… alternately, an Aussie Gris which was rather sharper and less overtly ripe. So… here's a pack with two Aussie Grigios – well named for their crispness and delicacy, and one Aussie Gris, which is a riper, more complex example Learn More