Simply Red Lineup 3.0
Shiraz. Grenache. Cabernet. A mix of moderate to warm climates. Medium-bodied plus. Check, check, check, check and check. This is the pack for lovers of out-and-out flavour, but balance too. You even get TWO of each of the following bottles in this impressive dozen wines that are anything but simple.
Red
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- Cabernet Sauvignon
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- Coonawarra
- Cabernet Sauvignon
- Coonawarra
These folk (Southern Highlands Winery) source regionally because they want to flesh out their portfolio with some classics. Maybe because the Southern Highlands are a little less known, maybe because they just wanted more Coonawarra goodness in their lives. Either way, you get the boon of a maker who knows their stuff doing Coonawarra as they’d want - which is to say, classic. Winemaker’s Reserve, indeed! 2015 was a great year, and produced powerful reds thanks to a fairly dry, even season. Red berries and spice lead the nose, with chocolate, coconut and cigar box adding depth, plus a spring of mint to bring it home.
Red
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- GSM
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- Rhone Valley
- GSM
- Rhone Valley
This wine is from the glorious, contemporary Château Sixtine, and is the little sibling to their incredible Châteauneuf-du-Pape - in price, at least. The term ‘Villages’ always makes me think it’s something lesser, when in fact it’s superior, with stricter rules around its designation. More time and money thrown its way. Not that you’d really associate all that love with this kind of price point, all the way from France. But here we are, with a juicy, very French but modern and vivacious, blue-black-red-fruited expression of all that’s good in the Rhône. Guigal used to be my go-to. No more.
Red
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- Shiraz
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- Frankland River
- Shiraz
- Frankland River
Since winning Australia’s most prestigious winemaking award, the Jimmy Watson, in 2009, winemaker Jeremy Gordon hasn’t slipped a millimetre. 2014 saw Amelia Park named Margaret River Winery of the Year at the Melbourne International Wine Comp, and in 2015 Jeremy was a finalist for International Red Winemaker of the Year at the International Wine Challenge. Amelia Park bought their own vineyard in 2013, and the quality of wine has only improved accordingly. This 2017 shiraz has heaps of blueberry, red fruits and spice, along with licorice, strawberry and earthiness. It’s at the very cutting edge of syrah meets shiraz styling, thanks obviously to terroir but also to smart crafting and some whole bunch fermentation. Very clever stuff, at once complex and easy to enjoy for its layers of charm.
Red
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- Shiraz Blend
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- McLaren Vale
- Shiraz Blend
- McLaren Vale
“They’re very good winemakers, these guys. They produce a very consistent product at a very consistent price. They’re grenache specialists, and add their silky Vale shiraz to the mix and you have yourself a winner.” So says John to the gaggle of geeks at the Tasting Bench. This is spicy, peppery, and juice-running-down-your-chin plums. A full spectrum of blue, black and red fruits, with a lovely doughiness to it, barbera-like almost but much, much richer.
Red
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- Shiraz
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- Limestone Coast
- Shiraz
- Limestone Coast
This is unexpected. Coffee bean, raspberry-chocolate, earthy and rich. Ripe and warming, piles of dark fruit on the palate, but not overworked with too much oak. Sweet-fruited, but its fullness is all about savoury tannins, a confident density borne of equally confident grape-growing and winemaking. Good stuff.
Red
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- Cabernet Sauvignon
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- Clare Valley
- Cabernet Sauvignon
- Clare Valley
From one of the great Clare vintages comes this diminutively priced cabernet, from dry-grown wines in the dark soils of the Armagh Valley, and made by Angela Meaney of Stonebridge Wines. With six years under its belt, this sturdy little number punches well, well above its price point. Classy aged cabernet you can afford to have every lunch time.