Best value wines to try under $30

Looking for a stocking stuffer or a bargain bev for the silly season? We’ve got you sorted with these homegrown hits.

As the silly season gears up, we’ve found some savvy homegrown drops that won’t bust the Christmas budget.

Here’s Kitchen Confidential’s 30 under $30 thrifty wine finds.

SPARKLING

A real firecracker wine.

NV CHANDON BLANC DE BLANCS: $22

With a intricate, doily-like fizz, this pale straw stunner is frothing with grapefruit, lemon, green apple and sourdough aromas. Expect explosive apple-y freshness and custard-filled pastries on the palate. Firecracker bubbles dance on the tongue, with sprightly minerality and a crisp finish.

First Choice Liquor, cellar door

Wildly fresh AF.

NV THE FLYING WINEMAKER PROSECCO: $25

Lemon sherbety fizz and pin cushion beads keep things wildly fresh in the glass, zapping with crisp apple, pear and lemonade aromas with every sip. This King Valley grown number is made by Melbourne expat turned FIFO winemaker Eddie McDougall and is sure to please most crowds.

Dan Murphy’s

Pretty in pink.

NV MITCHELTON SINGLE VINEYARD ROSE CUVEE: $28

The Nagambie number is bouncing with ripe and confected strawberries on the nose, with pineapple lollies, marshmallows and ripe peaches all doing their bit. A dry wine that smells sweeter than it tastes, swirling with red apples, strawberries, cherries and pink grapefruit and chirpy acidity.

Cellarbrations Daylesford, La Manna, South Melbourne Grocer

Golden in colour and price tag.

2017 BLUE PYRENEES MIDNIGHT CUVEE: $30

Pyrenees pearler that’s piercing yet poised. Medium golden colour in the glass, with a perfume of white flowers, lollies, strawberry yoghurt and bakery air. Quenching green apple and lemon freshness with almond meal creaminess that spreads wide across the palate. The grapes are picked under moonlight to achieve ultimate crispness.

Vintage Cellars,*2022 current vintage

A dark horse from Great Western

2024 BEST’S GREAT WESTERN BLANC DE NOIR: $30

Made only with black (noir) shiraz grapes from Best’s Great Western vineyard, this dazzler delivers fruit-forward aromas and flavours of raspberries, strawberries, pink grapefruit and pastries. It’s feather light and delicate, yet piercingly crisp to taste.

Melbourne Wine House

2023 PIZZINI IL SOFFRIO PROSECCO: $28

Don’t call this powerhouse prosecco another airheaded wine. With layered brioche aromas, this King Valley dark horse fizzes with a lemon sorbet energy, charging tiny beads across the palate, before falling into a cleansing pool of white pear, peaches and lemon rind. A complex nougat, white icing and raw almond finish adds intrigue.

pizzini.com.au

ROSE/SKINS

Blushes a gorgeous salmon colour in the glass.

2022 CHALMERS ROSATO: $29

A shy blush colour leads into a bouquet of quince, yellow apples, lemon and strawberries. Light and bright, with tapered acidity that won’t slap you silly. Think more sunny apple, almond and white peaches tempered by rhubarb tartness. Has both skip and grip.

Dan Murphy’s

A dangerously easy summertime sipper.

2023 GIANT STEPS ROSE: $30

Star winemaker Melanie Chester and her team craft a dangerously easy summertime sipper. Blushing a shy pale salmon in the glass, this dry pink wine gushes with bright aromas and flavours of strawberries and cream, raspberries and pink lady apples with a lick of minerality.

Dan Murphy’s

Funky and fun!

2023 AIRLIE BANK GRIS ON SKINS: $23

Yarra Valley grown pinot gris is fermented on its skins to achieve its bronze hue and become an “orange wine”. Wafting with ginger, pear, green pepper and feijoa, a jalepeno smokiness puts the pep in its step with smashable strawberry, pear and ginger spice notes. Dry, grippy, smoky, spicy. A firecracker with Asian food or to quell chilli heat.

Dan Murphy’s

WHITE

This Italian white wine variety is lively yet smooth and supple.

2022 BROWN BROTHERS ORIGIN SERIES FIANO: $18

Like summertime skinny dipping in the sea. Lively and splashy, yet smooth and supple, with lifted aromas of salty sea breeze, pineapples and mushy pear. Light, with a lemony tenderness that won’t claw your eyes out. Aged in a mix of old and new oak for those creamy almond meal
feels.

Foodworks Montmorency and Aspendale Cellars

Like Grigio, with poise.

2022 INNOCENT BYSTANDER PINOT GRIS: $20

Loud and proud aromas of pear, apple and lemon juice lead into a plush-textured wine with giving body and pulsing citrus acidity. Fresh like an Italian grigio, with poise. Notes of marshmallow, nectarine and pear add a new layer of intrigue.

Dan Murphy’s, Vintage Cellars

Let’s get around a white wine blend.

2023 TAHBILK FLOOD BLEND: $21.95

The 2022 floods in central Victoria put Tahbilk underwater and this wine was made with salvaged grapes. Green and grassy nose thanks to the desperate early picking, still soft with lime and pear aromas. Jalapeño, lemon pith and passionfruit are all here, balanced by splashable freshness and astringency of fruit forced to an early fate.

tahbilk.com.au

Glistens an amber colour in the glass.

2022 MDI PINOT GRIGIO: $22

Glistening like an amber Mildura sunset, this northern Victorian number sings of ripe yellow pears and apples, nectarines and honey. It’s more of the same to taste, with that honeyed mouthfeel and lemon citrus finish. A melt in your mouth warm weather treat that lingers forever and a day.

Mr West, Cardwell Cellars

An excellent value chardonnay.

2023 HODDLES CREEK ESTATE CHARDONNAY: $26

Whispering with green apple, pear, grapefruit and creamy aromas, this refreshing Yarra Valley number splashes with sensible acidity and an oaky mid-palate. More reserved and uplifting than other chardy styles, celebrating quality fruit with a long marzipan and grapefruit finish.

Boccaccio Cellars, City Wine Shop

Pass the salty things, stat!

2023 CRITTENDEN ESTATE LOS HERMANOS SALUDOS: $26

Like shooting a lemon-squinted oyster, chased by mineral water and drenching of summer rain. A fierce and fresh AF summer white (made with Basque-region grape gros manseng) straddles the salty-sweaty and fresh-fruity line to a tee. Oyster shell minerality, pear and green apple spritz. Light-bodied, high acidity and length that carries on for hours. Someone pass the salty snacks, stat.

Cellar door

Nothing like savvy b from across the ditch.

2023 MULLINE SAUVIGNON: $30

A grassy whiff of spring, rolling with yellow wattletree aromas, sun-warmed lawn, honeysuckle, pears and lime. Splashes far and wide across the palate, enveloped in green apple and lime acidity, with a green edge and plenty of minerality. Nothing like those passionfruit ripe savvy b’s from across the ditch.

Prince Wine Store, Different Drop

Riesling that won’t burn your face off in acidity.

2024 PARINGA ESTATE RIESLING: $30

All white flowers on the nose, this Mornington Peninsula riesling sings a melody of crunchy pears, green apples and lime across the palate. Fresh and fierce, with a core-centring acidity keeping most food in check.

Dan Murphy’s

RED

A heavy hitter from up north.

2021 CAMPBELLS OF RUTHERGLEN SHIRAZ DURIF: $19.80

The offspring of shiraz and French grape peloursin, Rutherglen icon winery Campbell’s blends durif and shiraz for this bold and ballsy wine. Flush with aromas of violets, blueberries, vanilla, spice and grunty black pepper, it follows through with ripe black and red plums, hits of vanilla and niggly tiny tannins.

campbellswines.com.au

Chill it down for the magic to happen.

2023 CAMPBELLS OF RUTHERGLEN AMELIE: $22

This cheery, cherry red number drips of juicy red plums, blueberries and blackcurrant juice. With a kiss of sweetness and velvety smooth mouthfeel, it screams to be chilled and served with a charcuterie board, or smoked meats, stat.

campbellswines.com.au

A sleek, full-bodied beauty.

2021 TAHBILK CABERNET SAUVIGNON: $24

Another entry by the landmark Nagambie winery sings of blackcurrant, dark mint chocolate and eucalyptus. A sleek, full-bodied palate runs wild with more of the same, with a hit of spice and never-ending finish. Undeniably approachable with a ridiculously affordable price.

Cellar door, Purvis Cellars

Perfect with pasta and red sauce.

2023 SOUMAH NEBBIOLO BARBERA D’SOUMAH: $25

RRP: $33

Smells of sugo bubbling on the stove, black plums, vanilla and a rose garden at dusk. This soft and supple palate paints a fine figure of black plums and their bitter skins, sprinkled with vanilla spice and teeny pensive tannins. Goes great with a tomato-based pasta sauce.

Wine Sellers Direct

A friendly red blend.

2021 BILLY BUTTON ROSSO, $25

Humble Alpine region winemaker Jo Marsh is behind this affordable, juicy red blend, made with a roll-call of Italian (plus one Spanish) hits: barbera (37 per cent), tempranillo (23 per cent), dolcetto (18 per cent), refosco (13 per cent) and sangiovese (9 per cent). Red fruit, cloves and black pepper on the nose. Overripe red cherries, black plums, vanilla and milk chocolate follow to taste.

Prince Wine Store, Black Rock Grocer, Dan Murphy’s

Structural like a cab sauv, with velvety chocolate notes.

2018 COPPERHEAD CABERNET SAUVIGNON: $26

Pulls all the expected structural levers of a cab sauv: big body, loud tannins, high-ish alcohol, with characteristic aromas and flavours of blackcurrant jam and eucalypt. But then velvety milk chocolate enters the chat, with red plums and vanilla adding welcome plushness.

Wines On Poath; Hughesdale, selected Ritchies Supa IGAs

Slips down very easily.

2020 T’GALLANT CYRANO PINOT NOIR, $29

Cosy aromas of cooked strawberries, cranberries and dried twigs, with warm red raspberries, cherries and baking spice flavours to taste. Still lively and fruit forward, despite its age, with almost non-existent tannins.

Ritchies IGAs

There’s spice, fruit and full-throttle intensity. Are you game?

2023 OAKDENE CABERNET FRANC: $30

This Bellarine banger is broody, muscly and intense. A rich nose of red and black plums, grandpa’s dusty cupboard and spicy green pepper. To taste, it’s a bitter affair, abundant with more blackcurrant and green peppers, with tiny tannins and measured alcohol. Would stand up nicely against steak or on its own with a decant.

oakdene.com.au

STICKY, SWEET-ISH

This little piggie squealed all the way home.

SQUEALING PIG ‘SQUEALINI’ ZESTY LEMON: $21

Sure, you could drink this lemony fizzer as is, or you could let the mind run wild with boozy adult ice-cream spiders or soda water spritzes. Think balanced lemon sorbet flavour that’s not too sweet, fizzing with tight bubbles and summertime cheer.

Ritchies IGA Liquor, Crown on The Hill Cellars, Endeavour Cellars

The perfect bev for the middle of summer drinking.

ZONZO ESTATE BELLINA: $25

Pink lemonade in colour, fizzing with ripe peaches, it delivers on syrupy fruit minus the sickly sugar high. Delivers the right tingle of lemon prosecco to keep the fun times fizzing on.

Dan Murphy’s

Makes for sleek and chic after dinner drinking.

MORRIS OF RUTHERGLEN CLASSIC LIQUEUR MUSCAT: $25

Sweet like a European Christmas. Plump raisins, fruit cake, dried figs and spice take the bulk of the aroma load, spreading vast and fiery across the palate with more of the same flavours. Walnuts, shrivelled raisins, prunes, black coffee and vanilla spice temper the warming boozy finish. Counter with a snappy cheddar, stinky cheese or ginger bikkies.

Dan Murphy’s

Subtly sweet, big on flavour.

2023 DELATITE GEWURZTRAMINER: $28

Gushing with sweet aromas of lychee, yellow apples, wattle and lemon rind, its dry lacquered body paints a sweetish palate of tinned apricot, plump lychees, yellow apples and sugar-soaked peaches, zesty with enough grapefruit to keep things in line.

Dan Murphy’s