Australians know a thing or two about Shiraz. Or 166. That’s how many I counted in one of the B.C. Liquor Stores listings booklets earlier this year. Give or take 20 or 30, coming or going, that’s how many you can find if you really look hard. And with 30 or 40 more in the private stores, you’re probably up over 200 to dazzle and confuse your taste buds. Shiraz is arguably the red wine Australia does best.

That’s a whole lotta Shiraz going on, more than I’m prepared to put into a comparative tasting anytime soon. I do think it is the largest varietal representation in the Australian section, and one of the largest in the entire system. Is it excessive? Maybe so, but not if you love Shiraz. Or Syrah, for that matter, the other term by which some of it goes in other parts of the world.

Maybe they’re taught Shiraz-making in grade school. Many Australian winemakers who end up toiling here in our little wine country do it up right fine too. I’m thinking specifically of Jeff Martin at La Frenz, whose annual offerings are nothing short of brilliant, and easily hold their own with any Aussie comers. Yes, even the $100-plus cult ones. (The costliest I’ve found is the Greenock Creek Roennfeldt Road 1997, at $425 and change.)

So where to start? There are a few $10 to $20 models, but just this once let’s throw cash and caution to the winds and start a little higher up the price scale. We’ll look at five from the well-regarded house of Peter Lehmann. As the old sales slogan goes, you’ll be glad you did.

The first time I travelled in Australia—many more years ago than I’m prepared to admit in public—I was asked to address the aptly named Canberra Press Club on the subject of Canada’s emerging wine culture. Peter Lehmann and a sizable entourage appeared, with a busload of like-minded folks who were loosely known as the Friends of the Barossa.

And speaking of loose, they certainly were by the time they arrived—there must have been more than a little Shiraz going down on the journey. But they were a good bunch, attentive and interesting, keen to learn and keen to share. That was my introduction to the man and his remarkable wines, so I’ve long appreciated the selection of Peter Lehmann wines we have access to in B.C.

(After that evening, I went on to visit a winery-destination place called Chateau Hornsby at Alice Springs. The wine was noteworthy for any number of not necessarily enological reasons, and we rode camels over disused riverbeds and listened to a man sing odd songs while accompanying himself on a beer crate. But that’s another story.)

The Lehmann portfolio in B.C. consists of about a dozen wines, and five of them are Shiraz. Prices range from $16 to just over $80; it’s an excellent representation that would make for a good weekend tasting. Just put the names of all five wines into a hat, and then have a draw. Each person buys one and brings it along; you provide the glasses.

A common characteristic among the five is the fact that they are all excellent wines. All come decorated with big awards and accolades, and lots of 90-plus-point ratings from the leading publications. It was a challenge for the little panel—still reeling from a recent Merlot marathon—to select one over its companions, to rank them. Trimming part-points from the final tally made some sort of sequence emerge. But the fact that there were perhaps only half-point differences between first and second, fourth and fifth proved that here was state-of-the-art Shiraz-making. Price played a larger role than usual in the final rankings.

This really put the cheapest at the top of the golden heap: Peter Lehmann Weighbridge Shiraz 2005 set the tone—and sent people scrambling to the store—with its inviting $15.99 price tag. At that, it represents astonishing value: a hale and hearty, rich and robust real meat wine. If you don’t do meat, do this one anyway, with a big-spiced bean casserole or a hot vegetarian chili. It runs Olympic rings around most Shirazes at twice the price.

For $24.99, the Peter Lehmann Barossa Shiraz 2005 really couldn’t compete. Not that it isn’t a lovely wine—big fruit, rich and velvety chocolate and date aspects, cherry bright and licorice rich, with a silky finish—but for $9 less, the Weighbridge got many thumbs up.

Shiraz was Lehmann’s first wine, and that may explain why he’s such a dab hand at it. The Futures Shiraz 2004 ($32.99) lived for 12 months in French oak, which tempered its edges, subdued the tannins, and brought out a lot of spice. We all tasted big Venezuelan chocolate and prune-plum elements in what is essentially a huge but mellow wine.

Peter Lehmann Eight Songs Shiraz 2002 ($48.56) is a great big complex wine from a superb vintage. Deep black colour, huge concentration, opulent black-cherry flavours—2012 is about right for uncorking and serving it, but who can hold on that long? The wine is stunning, and is tied with the following one, but remember what I said about half-point differences.

Eighty dollars is getting up there, and the Peter Lehmann Stonewell Shiraz 2002 ($81.29) comes described as Peter Lehmann’s “best, richest, most concentrated Shiraz of vintage”. Here’s your cellar dweller—15 more years for sure, and probably then some. Australian wine guru James Halliday heaped 96 points on it, and so did all of us. But the practical among us thought that for the price, we’d go back and pick up two of the Eight Songs and wait for a well-intentioned and -heeled pal to bring this one around.

So, since it has become a bit of a custom to rank them, here goes. It wasn’t easy, and only two points separated first and fifth place. A grand achievement in Shirazery, to be sure: 1) Weighbridge, 2) Eight Songs, 3) Futures, 4) Stonewell, 5) Barossa.