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

Subsea Estate is the southern hemisphere's first operation dedicated to ageing wine underwater

1 week ago | winecompanion.com.au | Max Brearley

Winemakers in Margaret River love to talk about the maritime influence and the effect of having ocean on three sides. It’s part of the winemaking lore in a region adept at telling a good story. Now, Subsea Estate, based at the southwestern tip of Western Australia, is writing its own chapter. Billed as the first subsea winemaker in the southern hemisphere, it is using a method that leans on secondary fermentation and maturation in patented underwater vats.
The Granite Belt: Mike Bennie on why this overlooked Queensland wine region is well worth your attention

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

The Granite Belt wine region is unique and individual, with a dizzying array of grape varieties, bucolic vineyard settings and a dedicated core of quality producers that challenge expectations and offer an impressive vinous exploration. While Queensland and wine aren’t necessarily synonymous to some, the region and its distinctive wines deliver a kaleidoscopic offering that ranges from terroir-driven noble varieties to avant garde interpretations through the lens of lesser-sung grape varieties.
Yarra Yering has released its 2023 flagship wines - marking winemaker Sarah Crowe’s 10th vintage

1 month 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.
The best of Central Otago pinot noir is highlighted in the inaugural Central Dozen wine pack

1 month ago | winecompanion.com.au | Dave Brookes

The recently announced inaugural Central Dozen is great news for lovers of New Zealand pinot noir, specifically from the renowned region of Central Otago. This new project from the Central Otago Winegrowers Association is designed to provide an annual snapshot of pinot noir in the region. The inaugural Dozen features 12 standout wines from the 2022 vintage, blind-tasted and chosen by a distinguished panel led by Kiwi Master of Wine Emma Jenkins.
Oxygen in winemaking: Mike Bennie explores whether it's a friend or foe

1 month 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

1 month 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

1 month 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

1 month 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

2 months 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.