A Western Australian shiraz that sells for $40 a bottle has just been named the best red wine of 2025 at The Royal Adelaide Wine Show.
Howard Park’s Leston Shiraz 2023 was crowned Most Outstanding Red Wine and took home the prestigious Max Schubert AM Trophy at the recent prestigious awards ceremony.
In addition to triumphing over every other red wines in the show, the Margaret River drop also collected two additional trophies at this year’s awards, including Best Shiraz 2023 Vintage & Younger and the Best Shiraz in Show.
Considering its recent accolades, Howard Park’s Leston Shiraz 2023 sells for a reasonable $40 per bottle and can be purchased online from Burch Family Wines.
The Royal Adelaide Wine Show is one of the nation’s most respected Australian wine shows featuring over 2,500 wines from 300 wineries across the country.
In a huge coup, the Howard Park wine beat out stiff competition from renowned local Barossa and South Australian producers on their home turf.
Howard Park’s Chief Winemaker, Nic Bowen, couldn’t be prouder of the recent win.
‘To win a trophy at the Royal Adelaide for our Shiraz is such a high honour in Shiraz heartland,’ Nic said. ‘To win three trophies is a dream.’
Howard Park’s Leston Shiraz 2023 was recently awarded the prestigious top prize of best red wine at The Royal Adelaide Wine Show
Howard Park’s Chief Winemaker Nic Bowen (pictured) said of the latest accolade: ‘To win a trophy at the Royal Adelaide for our Shiraz is such a high honour in Shiraz heartland.’
What makes the award-winning red wine distinct is that it’s crafted from a selection of the best batches of Shiraz grown on the Leston vineyard, which is located on the winery in the Wilyabrup sub-region of Margaret River.
The palate of the wine is noted for its rich concentration and precision, with plush expressive fruit and well-balanced integration of oak.
The shiraz has also shone in professional tasting reviews, respectively awarded 94 points and 95 points by wine critics Ryan Montgomery and Ryan Jordan.
Montgomery described the Howard Park wine as ‘delicious’ thanks to its ‘spice and fruit driven aromas of dark cherries, blood plums, crushed stones, spices, graphite and purple flowers’.
‘The palate is rounded with a creamy texture and silky tannins,’ the wine critic added.
Jordan glowingly described the wine at as ‘one of the most beautiful and prettiest shiraz from this vineyard in Margaret River’.
‘It’s so smooth and seamless with a high degree of polish that shows quality of fruit and sympathetic winemaking,’ he added.
Howard Park’s victory at The Royal Adelaide Wine Show forms part of a larger regional success story for Margaret River.
Howard Park (pictured) is located in the Wilyabrup sub-region of Margaret River. It is one of a number of wine producers in the region to be recognised at The Royal Adelaide Wine Show
In total, the region as a whole claimed two of the three major trophies, with Evans & Tate’s 2023 Redbrook Reserve Chardonnay winning Most Outstanding White Wine.
Other Margaret River wine makers to be acknowledged with wins at the recent awards were Stella Bella, Deep Woods Estate and Millbrook Winery.
The Margaret River wine region is also growing internationally renowned after recently being recognised on the world stage at the IWSC (the International Wine & Spirit Competition).
At the IWSC, wineries based in the WA south-west town received nine out of a possible 40 awards – making Margaret River the most awarded region not only in Australia but in the world.
Earlier this year, a South Australian red wine sold for $13 was singled out as the ‘best value’ shiraz in Australia.
When the results of Dan Murphy’s ‘Best In Glass’ wine awards were revealed in May 2025, the value wine to emerge victorious was the Shingleback Red Knot Shiraz.
The McLaren Vale red wine is priced at a highly reasonable retail price of $13 and reviews of the wine have seen it scored a respectable 4.3 out of 5 stars.
