Great wines for great value: 10 shiraz and blends for $40 or under

As Australia heads into its colder months, it's the perfect time to add some delicious shiraz and blends to your list to try. With many Australian wineries among some of the top producers of red wine, we have access to some incredible bottles that won't cost you a small fortune to purchase. 

Below is a list of 10 shiraz wines and blends from Australian regions including Heathcote, Wrattonbully, Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale and Geographe. They are all highly rated and all priced at $40 or under – the perfect combination.

Andrew Peace Wines Masterpeace Shiraz 2025, Victoria

Good value all round – an Andrew Peace speciality – with a generous, ripe-fruited shiraz. Bold in purple colour and nicely detailed in supple red and plummy fruits. Black cherry, blueberries and plums with some earthy nuances, licorice and lively spices lift the aroma. It's immediately inviting, with plenty of medium-bodied flavour, good length and tannin balance. Over delivers for the price, a well-kept secret!– Jeni Port, Halliday Wine Companion, 90 points.

RRP $15 | Drink to 2028 | apwines.com | Shop this wine

Andrew Peace Wines Winemakers Choice Shiraz 2025, Heathcote

Heathcote shiraz at a price you rarely see. It meets quite a few of the Heathcote parameters, from the deep purple-crimson colour to the liveliness of dark fruits and earthy spice. Brings a generous ripeness of black cherry, blueberry and dark plum with earth, licorice and spice built on supple tannins. Nice depth of flavour, too, running smooth.– Jeni Port, Halliday Wine Companion, 90 points.   

RRP $22 | Drink to 2028 | apwines.com | Shop this wine

Andrew Peace Wines Australia Felix Premium Barrel Reserve Cabernet Shiraz 2021, Wrattonbully

55/45% cabernet sauvignon/shiraz. Still super youthful and fresh as a four year old, this classic Aussie blend is alive and kicking points with its ripe black and red fruits and lively spiciness. Wrattonbully brings an energy to its red wines and like its neighbour, Coonawarra, it is built on an engaging earthiness and firm tannin presence. Cassis, cherry fruits and blueberries, leafy, earthy elements, bay leaf, spearmint, vanillin oak and anise spice framed in fine, firm tannins. Good balance and a bright finish.– Jeni Port, Halliday Wine Companion, 92 points.   

RRP $30 | Drink to 2028 | apwines.com | Shop this wine

Barossa Valley Estate Shiraz 2023, Barossa Valley

If you seek a fruit-pure Barossan shiraz at a sharp pricepoint, you should definitely consider this. Deep crimson and flush with ripe blackberry, black cherry and dark plum fruits, hints of baking spice, licorice, dark chocolate, fruitcake and purple floral tones. Medium bodied, sweetly fruited, fine tannins. It's a solid bistro style done well. – Dave Brookes, Halliday Wine Companion, 90 points.   

RRP $26 | Drink to 2033 | barossavalleyestate.com | Shop this wine

Clarendon Hills Domaine Clarendon Syrah 2024, McLaren Vale

No, that’s not a misprint. This is 12.5% alcohol. It’s from a high site in Clarendon, but that early picking has as much to do with elevation as revised philosophy. It certainly has the vigour of the earlier pick, with acidity and a tightening of fruit through the back palate, but the flavours are present and ripe. There’s a certain sinewy quality, with no overt fruit sweetness, a bitumen note sitting over tart black berries, damson plum, coal dust, ground anise seeds, brewed black tea and wild fennel. There’s flavour, a savouriness, some nerviness, and it’s a successfully different expression for this address. – Marcus Ellis, Halliday Wine Companion, 93 points.   

RRP $40 | Drink to 2032 | clarendonhills.com.au | Shop this wine

Hoffmann Family Vineyards Mickan Block Shiraz 2020, Barossa Valley

Deep crimson with aromas of blackberry, plum conserve and black cherry fruits with hints of cold tea, dark chocolate, pan juices, blackstrap licorice, Cherry Ripe, earth and a fair lick of oak. Full bodied, powerful and inky on the palate, with uber-ripe black fruits, plenty of charry oak, thick, silty tannins and a long stretch of cassis and kirsch fruit on the exit. At 16.1% alcohol there is a bit of heat on the finish, but if you favour power over elegance than this might be right up your alley. – Dave Brookes, Halliday Wine Companion, 92 points.

RRP $40 | Drink to 2035 | hoffmannfamilyvineyards.com | Shop this wine

Hoffmann Family Vineyards Mickan Block Durif Shiraz 2020, Barossa Valley

A deeply coloured wine, slightly broody in nature, with a bed of thick blackberry, black cherry, cassis and boysenberry fruit along with roasting and smoked meats, salted licorice, graphite, fruit-and-nut chocolate, blackforest cake and wood spice. Big and bold with a solid swell of black fruits that unfurls on the palate, some bittering herbs in the mix, plenty of charry oak, coal dust and earthen tones and a thickly tannined, darkly spiced finish. – Dave Brookes, Halliday Wine Companion, 91 points.

RRP $40 | Drink to 2035 | hoffmannfamilyvineyards.com | Shop this wine

Trentham Estate Reserve Shiraz 2024, Heathcote

Seven day fermentation, pressed, 12 months' maturation in French and American oak. This wine is part of the producer's Regional Excellence label, and the choice of grape, region and year (it was exceptionally good) pays off with a vibrant and polished shiraz. Fragrant in blue fruits, red berries, dark cherries and plums with warm toasty oak scents, chocolate and spice. Hints of bracken, briar, earth and leather join the palate with noticeable, attractive oak engagement. Warm and generous in personality, ripe in tannins and sweet fruited; it's ready to impress. – Jeni Port, Halliday Wine Companion, 92 points.

RRP $32 | Drink to 2032 | trenthamestate.com.au | Shop this wine

Wild Duck Creek Estate Yellow Hammer Hill 2023, Heathcote

82/12/6% shiraz/malbec/cabernet sauvignon. Matured 20 months in seasoned French and American oak, including French foudre and concrete vats. One welcoming, easy-to-get-to-know red blend that wants to please at a smart price, and it certainly does. Plush in black and red fruits, licorice, chocolate, spice; mid-weight and smooth in tannins. It brings a rising inflection of delicious spice to close. An old-school Aussie red that delivers. – Jeni Port, Halliday Wine Companion, 92 points.

RRP $35 | Drink to 2033 | wildduckcreekestate.com.au | Shop this wine

Willow Bridge Estate Gravel Pit Shiraz 2024, Geographe

Big perfume, lots of flavour. A sense of 'purple' throughout, in the nicest sense. Sweet cinnamon and clove spice in perfume, some dark plummy fruit, faint game meat, licorice and sea spray with a dash of bay leaf in there, too. Similar to taste. Chewy with fine, chalky tannins, plush fruit character, raspberry, black plum and green olive. Beautiful texture, moreish in flavours, with a kind of gulpable feel. Right on. – Mike Bennie, Halliday Wine Companion, 93 points.

RRP $38 | Drink to 2030 | willowbridge.com.au | Shop this wine