JM 1ST APPROACH

A steal at the price. Importer: Fourth Wave Wine It works best as a quaffer but quality-wise it’s better than that. Beautiful fruit. Clean savouriness. Tastes of black cherries, spice, and peanut oil. Ferrous aromatics. Builds in the glass. I wouldn’t age it but I’d buy a case of this for drinking over the next year in a heartbeat. Rated : 91 Points

A steal at the price. Importer: Fourth Wave Wine It works best as a quaffer but quality-wise it’s better than that. Beautiful fruit. Clean savouriness. Tastes of black cherries, spice, and peanut oil. Ferrous aromatics. Builds in the glass. I wouldn’t age it but I’d buy a case of this for drinking over the next year in a heartbeat. Rated : 91 Points

Made by the unflappable Javier Murua. Almost entirely tempranillo but co-fermented with a smidge of grenache. Sees a small portion of old French and American oak. Elegant yet characterful and then punchy through the finish. Has structure. Has a big dry finish. Licorice and cherry and twiggy sinewy almost-bitter notes. Chicory too. A grunty wine. Will be a handy drinking option through the cooler months. Like it. 90 points Winefront

A bright brick red colour with crimson highlights. The palate is complex and alluring, combining dark berry fruit and blueberries with underbrush and hints of chocolate and toasted coffee. The palate is rich and fruit driven with Barbera’s vibrant berry flavours matched by the savoury tobacco leaf and fine tannins of Nebbiolo.

A 'mini' Barolo, for this price? Unbelievable ... yet true. Stock up, I have! Gavin Trott

Decent, quaffable pinot noir for under $20? It's almost impossible to find but this terrific value import from the south of France manages it ... “the best French Pinot Noir outside of Burgundy” .... It's on the riper side of the pinot spectrum, certainly no shrinking violet, but no brash bogan either. The (French) girl next door with smoothness, dark cherry fruit flavours, hints of earthiness and plenty of length. Windsor Dobbin

WOW, power and intensity from the west. From the area renowned for cabernet sauvignon, shiraz lives in the shadows, but should never be ignored. Earthy, tobacco and dark fruits give this wine a brooding intensity. Juicy blackberry and plum, coffee and dry, intensely gripping tannin add some real punch. Firm, youthful and very bold, this is attractive on many levels. This is worth finding. Value: Excellent Food: Roast beef Rating: 4/5 Tony Love

WOW, power and intensity from the west. From the area renowned for cabernet sauvignon, shiraz lives in the shadows, but should never be ignored. Earthy, tobacco and dark fruits give this wine a brooding intensity. Juicy blackberry and plum, coffee and dry, intensely gripping tannin add some real punch. Firm, youthful and very bold, this is attractive on many levels. This is worth finding. Value: Excellent Food: Roast beef Rating: 4/5 Tony Love

A whack of fresh-cut fruit: sliced pineapple, apple, grapefruit and a little white floral top-note. 100% pure varietal on the palate, it has a creamy open feel, and just a tweak of nutty acid/earth definition. Simple, gentle and harmonious, a perfect house wine style. 100% Macabeo. No oak.