Australians are spoilt for choice when it comes to world-class wines. Though many casual drinkers rarely look beyond our spicy shirazes or toasted chardonnays, real aficionados know just how vast our offerings can be.

 From Margaret River to the Yarra Valley, the country boasts an extremely broad range of micro-climates, meaning our winemakers have the chance to experiment with grapes, style and techniques to a very high degree of execution.

Each year, the Melbourne Royal Wine Awards celebrates the diversity, expertise and excellence of Australian wine. Held in October, the prestigious event brings together professionals from across the industry to crown the year’s top drops.

Ahead of the 2026 edition, on the hunt for some insider tips, we spoke to Morgan Payne, sommelier at Albert’s Wine Bar in Armadale, Melbourne. Morgan got “bitten by the wine bug” when he moved up to bar manager at Albert’s and had the opportunity to try wines from across the venue’s selections.

“I didn't think wine could be as complex, or as enjoyable, or even moving and fun,” he says. “Ever since then, I started teaching myself about different grapes, different regions and different wine making techniques.”

According to Morgan, a real stand-out wine needs to get the basics right, and have something that sets it apart as well.

“It has to be complex. It can't just taste like cherries. It can't just taste like plums. It has to have complexity between savouriness, sweetness, and fruit, and other flavour notes. It has to be structured well. And it needs to stick with you, I guess. The wine needs to be expressive. You need to be able to take a sip of the wine and be able to assign a personality to it.”

Here are his seven favourites.

Morgan Payne is the sommelier at Albert’s Wine Bar, a boutique neighbourhood wine bar located in Armadale, Melbourne.

Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay 2023

Starting off strong, Morgan’s first pick for chardonnay is a crowd pleaser – a Margaret River selection from a big-name brand.

“The reason why I love it is I love my sort of textural, full-bodied white wines, and this does what it says on the tin 100 per cent. The oak and the sort of butteriness that you get from things like malolactic fermentation is really well balanced. Everything is nicely in line. It's got a great fruit profile and great liveliness. It's a very opulent and elegant wine, and I love that,” he says.

“Australia can go toe to toe with the likes of producers from Burgundy, and still have our own  very precise and unique terroir expression in a wine. This, even though it is a little bit more commercial, it definitely stands up to those wines of quality because it is a wine of quality.”

Savaterre Chardonnay 2024

This wine comes from Beechworth, a little-known region in Victoria’s High Country which Morgan tells me is best known as the home to the high-end vineyard Giaconda.

“With this wine from Savaterre, I always tell people that you're getting Giaconda level quality for a fraction of the price,” he says. “I think the terroirs are actually quite close together, and [they have] very similar wine making styles as well.”

Morgan says this chardonnay is more powerful than the one from Leeuwin Estate. “It's got very racy, energetic acid and it's got really ripe fruit as well, like you feel the wine on your palate. And it's still got that elegance in that opulence of subtle oak usage and that butteriness."

“It's a wine that makes you pause. It's a wine that kind of commands your attention as well. It's not something that you just crack open and sit on the couch. You can do it, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it.”

Entropy Wines Savagnin 2023

For a slightly more left of field white, Morgan chose Entropy’s Savagnin, coming from Borborshire, Gippsland. The grape – native to Jura, an area in France close to the Swiss border – is typically used to make a rare type of wine called vin jaune, which translates to yellow wine.

“Basically, when you make white wine, you have to continuously top up the barrels as it evaporates, but over time that wine, if not topped up, gets lower in the barrel and then a protective layer of yeast forms on top. So it still oxidizes, but it doesn't make the wine go bad. It causes it to sort of taste like dried fruits, nuts,” says Morgan.

“But when made into a normal table wine, savagnin is very similar to, let's say, an oaky chardonnay. It has a herbaceousness. It has a medium body. It's got really high acid as well, so you can have some really nice freshness with it,  but it's a very gastronomic wine that mpairs really well with food and stands up next to it as well. It can be a bit overwhelming for the first time drinker, but it's definitely one to explore.”

By Farr Sangreal Pinot Noir 2024

“The sangreal has – I know everyone compares wines to Burgundy but it's the only way to describe it – this Burgundian taste of well integrated oak, semi-dried red fruits as well as a little bit of spice, savouriness, potpourri.”

Made in Geelong, the By Farr sangreal was planted in 1994 and is unfiltered to preserve the naturally perfumed aroma and moreish taste.

“This wine commands your attention in how elegant it is in a very subtle way. It sort of creeps up on you when you first have that taste and you say, ‘Good.’ And then you sort of go, ‘Yeah, that's really good.’ And then you start taking into account the silkiness of the tannin and just the right amount of lift from the acid,” Morgan tells me.

“It's a special occasion wine. It's the kind of wine that you have at your wedding and you're at the bride and groom's table, and you're the only ones having that while everyone else drinks another pinot noir.”

Morgan shows off two bottles of the Vanguardist V Grenache 2024.

Vanguardist V Grenache 2024

“This is probably my favorite Australian wine,” says Morgan.

He tells me South Australia’s Vanguardist typically makes wines that come from the Rhône Valley: grenache, grenache blanc most recently, mourvedre and syrah. But the V Grenache, made from 55 year old vines, is a cut above the rest.

“It doesn't smack you in the face with flavour,” he says. “You get this really great expression of the McLaren Vale and Blewitt Springs in how it presents its medium body. It's got this really cutting level of bright red fruits and it's got enough tannin as well to hold that all together.

It's complex, it's got energy behind it without being too overwhelming, and it's got elegance to it. It's just a really well-balanced red wine.”

Leeuwin Estate Art Series Shiraz 2023

Leewin Estate scores another mention here, and it’s partially for the value for money. While their chardonnay sits at a high price point of around $250, Morgan says their shiraz has the same level of attention to detail, and usually comes in around $80 or under.

“Coming from Margaret River, it's really restrained. You've got a lot of elegance; a lot of black fruits. It's not your big plum bomb, chocolate bomb that you get from the Barossa Valley. It's  a little bit more dialed back, and just an absolute pleasure to drink. Depending on who you are, you could feel no guilt whatsoever cracking it open on a Tuesday night and having it with a pizza. It goes well with that, but also goes great with a really nice cut of steak as well.”

Koomilya GT Block Shiraz 2022

Finally, Morgan recommends this McLaren Vale shiraz made by Steve Pennell, who he calls “sort of a legend  in that area.”

“The reason why it's called GT is because shiraz vines were grafted over gewurztraminer vines and gewurztraminer is a white grape varietal and typically makes quite floral, rosy, sometimes lychee-forward white wines, that can sometimes be quite sweet as well.  The shiraz vines were grafted over those,” he says.

“What that actually lends to the final wine itself is this almost flora, lifted characteristic. It's still got that punch of South Australian shiraz that we all know, but it has this very perfumed aroma and very delicate mouthfeel, texture and flavour profile.  It's a great one to seek out and  in my opinion a little bit more interesting than your standard Penfolds as well.”