This evening, the highly anticipated 2024 Halliday Wine Companion Awards were announced in front of 125 industry guests from across Australia. The Halliday Wine Companion Awards recognise the nation’s top wines, winemakers, viticulturists, and wineries across the country’s wine regions.
Hosted at the prominent St Kilda restaurant the Stokehouse, the 2024 Companion also marked the inaugural inductees to the James Halliday Hall of Fame in two classes: Wine and Australian Wine Industry. The new accolades recognise a wine that has won its category on five occasions or more and acknowledges individuals of the Australian wine industry deemed to be of the highest regard and significance.
This year’s honourees and Award winners were presented by the Halliday Tasting Team, chief editor Campbell Mattinson, founder James Halliday AM, as well as expert judges Dave Brookes, Jane Faulkner, Jeni Port, Philip Rich and Shanteh Wale.
“This year’s Awards and honourees underpin the strength and diversity of Australian wine amongst our regions. As a collective tasting team, we were in awe of the value that was represented in this year’s winners. We’ve unearthed some gems and honoured the very best of the best Australia has to offer. Our love for wine has only become stronger after tasting over 8500 wines across the year – it was a pleasure to taste alongside our expert judges. Congratulations to all the winners.”
– Halliday Wine Companion chief editor, Campbell Mattinson
The Awards also mark the release of the wine-enthusiast’s bible, the 2024 Halliday Wine Companion, which is available in stores nationally from Thursday, August 3. The book is a comprehensive guide to Australia’s leading wines, wineries, and grape growing regions, including all Award winners and tasting notes. More than 5000 tasting notes are printed in the 2024 Companion, with more than 8500 tasting notes available online at winecompanion.com.au.
This year’s major Awards represented regions including Coonawarra, McLaren Vale, Alpine Valleys, Victoria, Yarra Valley and Beechworth, Eden Valley and Hall of Fame in Barossa Valley, which both sit within the Barossa region. The varietal winners span three states: South Australia, Western Australia and Victoria.
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JAMES HALLIDAY HALL OF FAME
James Halliday Hall of Fame: Wine – Seppeltsfield 100-Year-Old Para Vintage Tawny 1923, Barossa Valley, SA (100 points)
James Halliday Hall of Fame: Wine Industry – Prue Henschke of Henschke Wines, Keyneton, SA
2024 MAJOR AWARD WINNERS
Winery of the Year – Bleasdale Vineyards, Langhorne Creek, SA Winemaker of the Year – Kate
Goodman, Penley Estate, Coonawarra, SA Viticulturist of the Year – Mark Walpole, Fighting
Gully Road, Beechworth, VIC Best New Winery – Joshua Cooper Wines, Victoria
Dark Horse – Anderson & Marsh, Alpine Valleys, VIC
Best Value Winery – Oakridge Wines, Yarra Valley, VIC
Wine of the Year – Yangarra Estate Vineyard Old Vine Grenache 2021, McLaren Vale, SA 2024
VARIETAL WINNERS
Red Wine of the Year – Yangarra Estate Vineyard Old Vine Grenache 2021, McLaren Vale, SA – 99 points
White Wine of the Year – Landaire at Padthaway Estate Chardonnay 2021 Padthaway – 98 points
Sparkling Wine of the Year – Sittella Wines Grand Prestige Late Disgorged 2010 Pemberton – 97 points
Riesling of the Year – Limefinger Solace Riesling 2022 Clare Valley – 98 points
Chardonnay of the Year – Landaire at Padthaway Estate Chardonnay 2021 Padthaway – 98 points
Semillon of the Year – Pepper Tree Wines Museum Release Limited Release Tallawanta Single Vineyard Semillon 2013 Hunter Valley – 99 points
Sauvignon Blanc of the Year – Domaine Naturaliste Sauvage Sauvignon Blanc 2021, Margaret River – 96 points
Pinot Gris/Grigio of the Year – Mayer Bloody Hill Villages HealesvillePinot Gris 2022 Yarra Valley – 96 points
Other Whites & Blends of the Year – John Kosovich Wines Bottle Aged Reserve Chenin Blanc 2018 Swan Valley – 98 points
Rosé of the Year – Sutton Grange Winery Fairbank Rosé 2022 Central Victoria Zone – 97 points
Pinot Noir of the Year – Giant Steps Applejack Vineyard Pinot Noir 2022 Yarra Valley – 98 points
Grenache & Blends of the Year – Yangarra Estate Vineyard Old Vine Grenache 2021 McLaren Vale – 99 points
Shiraz of the Year – Murdoch Hill The Landau Single Vineyard Oakbank Syrah 2021 Adelaide Hills – 99 points
Cabernet Shiraz Blend of the Year – Bleasdale Vineyards Wellington Road Shiraz Cabernet 2021 Langhorne Creek – 98 points
Cabernet Sauvignon of the Year – Bleasdale Vineyards The Iron Duke Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 Langhorne Creek – 98 points
Cabernet & Family of the Year – Houghton C.W. Ferguson Cabernet Malbec 2020 Frankland River – 98 points
Other Reds & Blends of the Year – Yarra Yering Dry Red Wine No. 3 2021 Yarra Valley – 97 points
Sweet Wine of the Year – De Bortoli (Riverina) Noble One Botrytis Semillon 2020 Riverina– 96 points
Fortified Wine of the Year – All Saints Estate Museum Muscat NV, Rutherglen – 100 points
About us:
About James Halliday
Respected wine critic and vigneron James Halliday is the founder of the Halliday Wine Companion. With a wine career spanning over 50 years, he was one of the founders of Brokenwood in the Hunter Valley, and later, Coldstream Hills in the Yarra Valley. James is an unmatched authority on all aspects of the wine industry, and for more than 30 years was among the most senior and active wine judges in Australia. He has won a clutch of awards for his contributions, including the Australian wine industry’s ultimate accolade, the Maurice O’Shea Award. In 2010 he was made a Member of the Order of Australia for his services to the wine industry. James has written or contributed to over 80 books on wine since 1970 and has written a weekly wine column for Australian newspapers since 1978.
About Campbell Mattinson
Campbell Mattinson fell in love with wine in the mid 1990s and no (good) wine, ever since, has been safe. He started The WineFront in 2002, produced three editions of the Big Red Wine Book (in 2008, 2009 and 2010; published by Hardie Grant) and his book The Wine Hunter, which won various awards both in Australia and overseas – including a prestigious Louis Roederer International Wine Writers’ Award – is now onto its fourth re- print. He is the only person to have won the Australian Wine Communicator of the Year twice. Campbell was also the founding editor of the Halliday magazine in 2012, and he’s been a reviewer for the Halliday Wine Companion since 2013.
About Halliday Wine Companion
For almost 30 years, the Halliday Wine Companion, founded by James Halliday, has served as the definitive guide to Australian wine. Today, a dedicated team of wine authorities collectively taste around 9000 wines each year. With more than 160,000 tasting notes from over 3500 wineries, winecompanion.com.au offers Australia’s most comprehensive collection of wine reviews and ratings to a highly engaged digital subscriber base. Halliday magazine is printed bi-monthly and offers a uniquely approachable take on wine, food and travel, and in 2022 both Halliday Wine Club and Halliday Wine Academy were launched to serve The Australian wine community. We also publish the Halliday Wine Companion guide – the bestselling annual which sets the benchmark for winemakers, collectors, and wine lovers alike. For more, visit winecompanion.com.au.
About the Halliday Wine Companion Awards
Every year, the Halliday Wine Companion Tasting Team pinpoint the nation’s top wines, winemakers, viticulturists and wineries from a pool of several thousand featured in the annual Halliday Wine Companion guide. This year founder James Halliday, together with Campbell Mattinson, Dave Brookes, Jane Faulkner, Jeni Port, Mike Bennie, Ned Goodwin MW, Philip Rich and Shanteh Wale cherry-picked the high performers from a range of criteria to offer a true representation of Australia’s greatest names in wine. The Awards are one of the most anticipated events on the Australian drinks calendar.
Contact details:
For further information, to speak to one of the winning wineries, please contact tide.pr:
Mimi Gibson | Account Director | mimigibson@tidepr.co | 0447 710 967
Aislinn Powell | Account Manager | aislinnpowell@tidepr.co | 0412 646 941
