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Pick of the week

Australia's Kilikanoon Killerrman's Run Shiraz 2006 ($19.95 in Ontario, product No. 925453; $24.99 in British Columbia) drinks like more expensive New World wines.

A reader barked over the Internet recently that I had dwelled too much on "$20-plus" wines in last Saturday's column. Ouch. My main highlight was Quinta do Crasto, a $15 red from Portugal's Douro region. And two other wines were safely under the $20 threshold. Besides, I thought I had a reputation for thrift. Frankly, I'm surprised the Argentine trade commission hasn't sent me flowers for the flattering things I've said recently about $8 malbecs.

But all's fair in love and reader feedback. It was a good reminder that times are tough. So today I'm keeping it real for out-of-work stockbrokers and real-estate agents, at least for the majority of the column. Those of you who have managed to hang on to cushy jobs can skip to the final three selections, with which price is no object.

My top under-$20 pick this week is Kilikanoon Killerman's Run Shiraz 2006 from Australia ($19.95 in Ontario, product No. 925453). I know it's just a nickel under the ceiling and actually goes for $24.99 in British Columbia (where earlier vintages may still be on the shelves). But it deserves top billing because it drinks like more expensive New World wines made by former sports stars that seem to make a lot more noise with rich people.

Make no mistake, it's very Australian, with concentrated, up-front fruit and a rounded, opulent texture. Don't expect European minerals or single-vineyard idiosyncrasy. But do expect to be wowed for the money. It's layered with rich blueberry, black cherry, vanilla and chocolate, kept fresh by lively acidity.

The wine scored 90 points out of 100 in Wine Spectator magazine last year. That's impressive for a bottle costing $20 (U.S.) in the United States. Other influential critics, such as James Halliday and Robert Parker, have consistently raved about Kilikanoon's entry-level Killerman's Run series of reds, which include a cabernet sauvignon and a grenache-shiraz-mourvedre blend. I can recall buying half a case of the latter wine about a dozen years ago and thoroughly enjoying every unpretentious bottle.

Added to the permanently available Vintages Essentials category last month in Ontario, the Killerman's Run shiraz, blended from various vineyards in South Australia, surprisingly has yet to garner much critical attention in Canada. But such often happens with 20-buck wines; they are neither cheap nor expensive enough to call due attention to themselves.

A British Columbia winery merits top marks for turning out two delicious under-$20 wines. Road 13 is the honest-sounding new name of Golden Mile Cellars, an Okanagan Valley winery that has been scoring hits with critics and discerning consumers since new owners Pam and Mick Luckhurst bought the property near Oliver in 2003. I love the minimalist red-letter logo, love the freshness-enhancing screw caps, love the wines, which, alas, are only available in the West.

Road 13 Chardonnay 2007 ($19.99, No. 738823) is fermented and aged in oak barrels, and the oak influence here is nicely integrated, with tropical-fruit flavours carried on a silky, almost waxy, frame, complemented by herbs, flowers, a subtle toasty note and crisp acidity.

From the same winery comes Road 13 Honest John's Red 2007 ($18.99, No. 290684), a merlot-dominated wine named for former B.C. premier John Oliver. Soft and silky, it's medium full-bodied, with notes of herbs and toast over a rich core of berry-like fruit.

Let's move to France now, where the attention recently has been on Beaujolais Nouveau. My advice is to skip the Nouveau and go straight to bona fide Beaujolais, by which I mean the best stuff. Beaujolais is a zone of southern Burgundy that excels at the cheap-and-cheerful, light-bodied red gamay grape. Nouveau is a two-month-old wine from the most recent harvest, a novelty wine intended to give people around the world - in, say, Gastown in Vancouver or Montreal's Plateau district - a chance to share in the harvest-festival atmosphere. But the best wines of Beaujolais ironically often don't even carry the word "Beaujolais" on the label. They're named after the top-ranked villages of the district, such as Brouilly, Moulin-a-Vent, Morgon and Fleurie. One superb example to hit shelves recently is Dame de Briante Brouilly 2006 ($19.95 in Ontario, No. 87429).

An excellent Spanish red was released in Ontario recently through Vintages stores: Vallobera Crianza 2005 ($19.95, No. 92429). It's full-bodied and very ripe, with black cherry and hints of mineral and wet soil. Great bang for the buck.

Another Vintages wine that soars above expectations is Vina Maipo Reserva Especial Sauvignon Blanc 2008 ($17.95, No. 81216). This one impressively walks the line between the lean Loire Valley Sancerre style and the exuberance of New Zealand sauvignon blanc, with crisp citrus and gooseberry enhanced by a face-full of freshly cut grass.

Almost as good is Mulderbosch Sauvignon Blanc 2007 from South Africa ($18.95, No. 933424), light-bodied and with a sensation of dried grass and wet stone.

Now to those après la deluge wines. If you live in Quebec, do not miss Fattoria de Magliano Poggio Bestiale 2005 ($37.50). This specialty listing from Tuscany's trendy Maremma region is a glorious "super-Tuscan" blend of merlot, cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc. Silky, rich and succulent, it's stacked with berry fruit, fine-grained tannins, hints of mushroom, mocha, toast and sweet pipe tobacco. Aged for 18 months in new French oak barrels and modern in style, it's what some American critics might call a blockbuster. I'd take it over two bottles of most $20 wines.

Another terrific red from Australia recently released in Ontario is Henschke Keyneton Estate Euphonium 2004 ($59.95, No. 720433), a luscious and very ripe blend of shiraz, cabernet sauvignon and merlot from the Barossa Valley, with good spice and licorice balancing out the almost-raisined fruit.

And, if you can afford it, buy all that you can of Altair Red 2004 ($64.95, No. 38430). This big red from Chile is likely to become a big collectible when big spenders finally realize top Bordeaux are overpriced and that Chile has the soil and climate to produce beautifully structured Bordeaux-style reds.

It's full-bodied, thick and silky, with hints of eucalyptus and chili-spiked dark chocolate. It should age beautifully for a decade and possibly much more.