Halliday Wine Companion

For more than thirty years, James Halliday has been Australia's leading wine critic, and his Halliday Wine Companion is widely regarded as the gold standard in the Australian wine industry. This best-selling annual publication serves as an essential guide for wine enthusiasts, featuring wine ratings, regional insights, top varietals, winery assessments, and a carefully selected list of the finest wines Australia has to offer. The 2020 edition has been thoroughly updated to provide readers with the latest information. In his distinctive style, Halliday imparts his vast wine expertise through comprehensive tasting notes that include scores, pricing, value indicators, and suggestions for optimal drinking times, along with details about each wine’s closure and alcohol level. He also shares valuable insights about wineries and winemakers, such as vineyard sizes, visiting hours, and contact information. This book makes a fantastic self-purchase or a thoughtful gift for any wine enthusiast.

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Articles

Yarra Yering has released its 2023 flagship wines - marking winemaker Sarah Crowe’s 10th vintage

2 weeks ago | winecompanion.com.au | Andrew Zuccala

The annual release of Yarra Yering’s ‘core four’ wines is always hotly anticipated. These wines are consistently celebrated by wine enthusiasts, and our Tasting Team regularly scores them within the high 90s. Thankfully, the 2023 vintage – which was released on April 1 – has met these high expectations. It consists of the 2023 Dry Red Wine No. 1, 2023 Dry Red Wine No. 2, 2023 Underhill Shiraz and the 2023 Agincourt Cabernet Malbec.
Oxygen in winemaking: Mike Bennie explores whether it's a friend or foe

2 weeks ago | winecompanion.com.au | Mike Bennie

Oxidative winemaking is one of the oldest and most intriguing techniques used in the winemaking world. While risky, and also often misunderstood when not directly linked to classic styles – a growing trend amongst avant-garde winemakers is to apply oxidative approaches and techniques to produce wines that offer depth, complexity, character and a sense of saline, briny minerality.
Best’s Great Western is releasing its much-anticipated 2020 Thomson Family Shiraz this May

3 weeks ago | winecompanion.com.au | Andrew Zuccala

Best’s Great Western is poised to release the 2020 vintage of its most prestigious wine – the Thomson Family Shiraz – on Thursday, May 1. The team has been producing this wine since 1992, sourcing fruit from just 15 rows of old shiraz vines that were planted in 1868 by Henry Best. The vines yield fewer than two tonnes per acre, and are hand-harvested and hand-sorted. Traditional winemaking methods are also honoured in the winery – like hand-plunging the ferments in small open fermenters.
Giaconda is releasing four new wines on April 15 – with its famed chardonnay expected to sell out within minutes

3 weeks ago | winecompanion.com.au | Andrew Zuccala

Giaconda has become a Beechworth legend – consistently making some of the country’s best wines which are prized by local and international collectors. And the coming four releases are expected to be just as sought after. These include the 2023 Estate Vineyard Chardonnay, 2023 Estate Vineyard Roussanne, 2023 Estate Vineyard Pinot Noir and the 2022 Beechworth Nebbiolo.
Master of Wine Toni Paterson on why semillon might be your new favourite white variety

4 weeks ago | winecompanion.com.au | Toni Paterson MW

How often do we hear – or say – “I’ll have a glass of white, please” – as if all white wines are interchangeable? Perhaps you’re after something light on its feet but full of quiet confidence. A wine that’s pristine, unoaked, moderate in alcohol, and brimming with citrus energy. If that’s what you’re looking for, then what you’re really after is semillon. It’s one of the wine world’s best-kept secrets. Many people don’t realise they love it until they try it.
Is the term 'alternative' now redundant when speaking of grape varieties in Australia? Five wine experts give us their take.

1 month ago | winecompanion.com.au | Marcus Ellis

Over the past two decades, give or take, grape varieties that once had drinkers stumbling with pronunciations are now recognisable even to those with a casual interest in wine. Grapes like fiano, tempranillo, vermentino, grüner veltliner, gamay and nero d’avola are permanently embedded in our vinous lexicon. So, are these so-called alternative varieties – largely selected for climate-apt properties – now mainstream? Or is our wine landscape simply more diverse?
Winemaker Jo Marsh is championing lesser-known grape varieties in the Alpine Valleys

1 month ago | winecompanion.com.au | Jeni Port

The clouds are coming in fast, building pace and looking thunderous and, at the same time, majestic. On the horizon, the peaks of Mount Buffalo National Park unfold, trimmed in a ribbon of green forests and the odd cluster of high-altitude vines. The beauty of the Alpine Valleys is in glorious 360-degree technicolour this October afternoon atop the Billy Button Wines home block at Porepunkah. Founder and winemaker Jo Marsh can clearly recall the first time she took it all in.
Fred Siggins on RTDs

2 months ago | winecompanion.com.au | Fred Siggins

Australia loves an RTD. From Jack & Cokes to Suntory 196, our appetite for tinnies of sugary booze is insatiable. In much of the rest of the world, these drinks simply don’t exist. You won’t find Johnny Walker & Cola cans in Scotland, or Jack (Daniels) & Coke in the USA. But here in Australia, we’re the third largest consumer of ready-to-drink alcoholic beverages in the world by volume, despite being only 55th in population. That’s a lot of bourbon and cola cans.
Jane Faulkner on Australian sparkling

2 months ago | winecompanion.com.au | Jane Faulkner

If there’s one drink that is universally appreciated and loved, it’s sparkling wine. Nothing says ‘let’s celebrate’ better than a bottle of bubbles. It’s often a luxury, an indulgence, offered as a token of gratitude. It’s the best congratulations gift and it marks milestones. It can also be a treat of drinking pleasure. No other wine embraces all that so brilliantly. And it's not just Champagne either. Australian sparklingQuality Australian sparkling is in a sweet spot.
Another Round: Savagnin

Jan 21, 2025 | winecompanion.com.au | Mike Bennie

Savagnin wineSavagnin stumbled into Australia through a twist of fate when a group of ambitious winemakers, eager to plant the popular Iberian variety albariño, found that the material sent to Australia by the supplying nursery was actually the distinct Jura variety savagnin. It was during the 2000s that this albariño-savagnin chicane occurred. Growers were left scratching their heads with broad disappointment, wondering where to go.