Spend $20 on a bottle of Australian red wine and you can enjoy some truly great value. Not all 20 buck wines are created equal though. Some are scaled-down versions of higher priced drops, denuded of some intensity and interest; others are all artifice, bolstered by winemaking or oak to create a facade of something greater. That said, there are plenty of good ones, and they are often more suitable for easy current drinking than wines constructed for long bottle age. What should you look for in a $20 red? Integrity of character is a good starting point. A pinot noir should taste like pinot noir, a South Australian shiraz should taste like one.

DCB Pinot Noir 2016

$18-$20 Score 92

Yarra Valley pinot noir rarely comes this cheap, especially given the quality on show here. It smells vibrantly of red berries and cherries with savoury spice and sappy notes adding complexity. It's lightish, yet intense, with clean, juicy flavour, a gentle silky feel, and an easy, soft finish. Screw cap; 13.4 per cent alcohol.

Ageing? No need.

Stockists include Boccaccio Cellars, Balwyn (Vic); Balmain Wine Collective, Balmain (NSW).

Seabrook Lineage Langhorne Creek Shiraz 2014

$18-$20 Score 91

Langhorne Creek shiraz deserves to be better known. This is a deep, dense, honest example with a nose of ripe dark berries, earth and spice, woven through with a mellow thread of oak. It's medium-bodied with succulent balance due to good acidity and well modulated tannins. Screw cap; 14.5 per cent alcohol.

Ageing? Drink over three years.

Stockists include Glebe Liquor, Glebe (NSW); Audacious Monk Cellars, Preston (Vic).

I Am George Shiraz Cabernet 2016

$18-$20 Score 91

Who's George? Nineteenth-century winemaking pioneer George Wyndham, that's who. This Limestone Coast shiraz/cabernet sauvignon blend is a fragrant wine with appetising blackberry and blackcurrant aromas, subtle leafy and floral notes. It's intense in flavour with medium body and a supple mid-palate counterpointed by tight drying tannins. Screw cap; 14.6 per cent alcohol.

Ageing? Drink over three years.

Stockists include First Choice stores; Dan Murphy's stores.