And are easy on the pocket
Toilet paper and pasta are scarce but we can still buy wine online and have it delivered. Finding the best wines and the best deals for our subscribers is all we do at Best Wines Under $20, and we add live links to our recommendations so you can order online from the merchant offering the lowest price. Easy as.
We do this with our BEST BUYS WEEKLY mailer, which is just $20 a year. $30 a year adds access to the archive of Best Buys Weekly mailers, and to our wine reviews. Check the subscription options and read what our subscribers say.
Here’s a short list to show you the quality of wines we track down, at super-sharp prices
White Wine
Cleanskins No 34 Margaret River Chardonnay 2018 – $8.50 at Dan M’s. A slick effort, quite refined for this price level. Hints of stone fruits and cashews, not profound or complex but smooth, easy every-day drinking. 91 points.
Rapaura Springs Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2019 – $8.50 at 1st Choice. It’s from a relatively new winery trying to build market share with aggressive pricing – good for us. Crisp and grassy, with the tropical fruit held well in check. I bought stacks of this as a drinking savvy at this price since we eat a lot of seafood. It leaves many savvies costing twice as much looking really ordinary. Grab some while the price is right. 92+ points.
Vidal Marlborough Chardonnay 2018 – $13 at Our Cellar. The fruit does the driving here, with oak taking the back seat. Classic blend of stone fruits and almond meal. Easy as … Lively crowd pleaser at a great price. 92 points.
Dopff Au Moulin Pinot Blanc 2018 – $14 at Dan M’s. A variety that deserves to be more popular. Apple blossom, apples and pears with hints of spice and blanched almonds, all pretty subtle but high on the drinkability scale, and even higher on the value scale. 93 points.
1960 Mountadam Old Vine Ridge Block Chardonnay 2015 – Still on special for $15 at Kemenys, and getting better with age. More savoury than the 2016, it has a full, round palate with notes of almond meal and French oak. Great with veal schnitzel. 95 points.
West Cape Howe Old School Chardonnay 2018 – $16 at Summer Hill Wine or $17 at Nicks. Not as old school as I expected – not all that peachy or buttery – but a good chardy for sure. Fermented and matured in French oak, and gone through malolactic fermentation which makes for a rich, round chardy with a creamy texture. Good line and length, and thecrisp finish keeps it all tidy. The price is right too, so we have a winner all round. 94 points.
Leo Buring Clare Valley Riesling 2015 Museum Release – $17 at Vintage Cellars. this is a cracker, a near perfect 5 year-old Clare Riesling, made by Peter Munro somewhere in the bowels of Treasury Wine Estates. 2015 was a really hot year, yet this wine has a fine, long line of acid that supports the classic florals, limes and bath powder.
It shows no hints of kero or toast or honey yet, in fact it’s still crisp and crunchy but richer and fuller than its younger siblings. The precision and linearity of this Riesling are exceptional, and so is the value. Will live for a long time. 95+ points.
Hoddles Creek Estate Yarra Valley Chardonnay 2018 – $20 at MyCellars where the freight is free for subscribers (promo code BWU20). I tried this wine 6 months ago; it made me think of a jazz combo that made all the right noises, yet the music lacked excitement. This time there was more to admire, but it is a subtle wine and you need to listen carefully; then you’ll discover some lovely nuances among the stone fruits and cashews. If it keeps growing in the bottle, it’ll hit perfect pitch in a year or two. 95 points. This was a recent Wine of the Week.
Leconfield Coonawarra Chardonnay 2018 – $20 at Winedirect. Classic chardy showing elegant restraint, along with white peaches and blanched almonds, plus creamy texture from some lees stirring and malolactic fermentation. Polished. 93 points. Please note – Winedirect has put together a special dozen of this chardy and added a great Barossa red
2018 Oakridge Willowlake Vineyard Chardonnay – $29 at My Wine Guy. These Oakridge Single Vineyard wines are serious bargains. The style is clearly modern but there’s more to it than Twiggy and the grapefruit diet. Classic stonefruits and cashews here, and so much more: almonds, spices, intensity of flavour, tension and creamy texture. A tad richer than usual for Oakridge. 96 points.
Reds
Luccarelli Puglia Negroamaro 2018 – $14 at Wine Sellers Direct. Very similar to the Primitivo, medium-bodied with dark berries and spices, dried herbs and dark chocolate Has a little more concentration and should improve for a couple of years. Terrific value. 93 points.
Feudo Arancio Nero d’Avola 2016 – $16 at Our Cellar. I’n not a big fan of this variety, the main red grape of Sicily, but this one has more to it than most. It’s ripe and fleshy with good depth of flavour; it serves up dark cherries with a pinch of dust, it’s medium-bodied and light on its feet. I scored it 92 points. In Gourmet Traveller Wine’s Italian tasting, it scored 93 points and 7th place ahead of wines costing 50 dollars. Serious bargain.
Guigal Cote-du-Rhone 2015 – $19 at Kemenys. 2015 was a bumper year in the south of France, so even modest wines like these tend to have more depth and weight than usual. I reckon this wine will even improve for 2 – 3 more years. 93+ points.
Jim Barry The Lodge Hill Shiraz 2016 – $19 at Boccaccio in Melbourne. From the Clare Valley, from a mature vineyard 480m high. Terrific purple colour and the vibrant fruit that cool climate Shiraz can produce, in a medium-bodied frame (13.6). Sweet red berry fruit, some spice but not much pepper, oak takes a backseat, hard to put down but the superb balance suggests it will improve for years. 95 points.
Penny’s Hill Cracking Black Shiraz 2015 — $20 at Winesquare. Similar in style to the wine of the week, but a tad bigger reflecting the year. More Shiraz notes as well, pepper and spice and all things nice including French oak. McLaren Vale Shiraz in a tux. 94 points.
Vasse Felix Filius Cabernet Sauvignon 2017 – $20 at Nicks. Bargain Cabernet from a first class winery in Margaret River. Classic cassis fruit polished with pencil shavings oak, good line and length, good drinking already but will improve for a few years. Nicks’ review at the link is spot on. 95 points.
Xanadu DJL Shiraz, Margaret River 2015 – $23 at Winesquare. I know I’ve raved about this wine before, and wondered why we can still buy it. That’s our gain, because it is an absolute cracker, and for once I’m on the same page with James Halliday whose review you can read at the link. Shiraz has spent too many years in the shadow of Cabernet in Margaret River. Drinkability is off the charts. 96 points, and the wine is ready to enjoy.
Wynns Coonawarra Black Label Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 (Cellar Release) – $35 at Winestar. Absolute cracker, the best release in the last dozen years, more complex than most, beautiful drinking now and for the next ten years. For special occasions. 97 points.
Rosé
Lovers Not Toreadors Rosé 2019 – $14 at Dan M’s. From Spain obviously, comes in a great package, and the wine is pretty decent as well. Vibrant and flavoursome, charming and slippery. The vintage on the website is out of date. 92 points.
Richard Hamilton Gida Rose 2019 – $15 at Winedirect. Straight up-and-down, no nonsense Rosé, from one of our oldest wineries. Walks the perfect line between perfumed attraction and cool execution. Not a hair out of place. 93 points.
Leconfield ‘La Sevillana’ Coonawarra Merlot Rosé 2019 – $23 at Laithwaite’s. Best Rose I’ve tasted in a year or more, pure, refined, elegant with great line and length. Made from Merlot – pure genius. Rosé for adults. 95 points.
SPARKLING
Redbank Emily King Valley Brut Cuvee – $11 at Our Cellar. This is no time for celebration but, when the time comes, this is a crisp and lively bubbly from the King Valley will sparkle. It’s one of the many labels in the Hill Smith Family Vineyards portfolio. 91 points.
Deutz Marlborough Cuvee NV – $20 at Winestar. This wine impressed me years ago as a serious option, and it has improved over the years since. The price has gone up with the quality, but it’s still a bargain. Check the reviews at the link. 95 points.
DESERT WINES
De Bortoli Deen Vat 5 Botrytis Semillon 375ml 2016 – $13 at Summer Hill Wine. Then little brother of The Noble One, and the 2016 is brilliant. Luscious with all the trimmings of marmalade and orange peel, apricots and honey. Super value. 95 points.
Morris Rutherglen Classic Liqueur Topaque (Tokay) 500ml – $18 at Nicks. Very comforting on a cold night in front of the fire, with some nuts and dark chocolate: marmalade, toffee, raisins, honey and a whiff cold tea. 94 points. Bargain
Yalumba Antique Muscat (375ml) – $20 at Nicks. More comfort food! Terrific Muscat but very hard to find. Nicks’ review at the link is right on the money. 95 points.
