We're excited about the annual release of the 2025 Halliday Wine Companion, a celebrated, best-selling guide to Australian wine – and the accompanying Halliday Wine Companion Awards that unfolded at the end of summer!
Halliday Wine Companion recognises the year’s top wines, winemakers, viticulturists and wineries across Australia. Each year the expert judging panel – aka the Tasting Team – collectively taste thousands of wines across the country to determine the year's rankings for wineries, wines, and special awards winners.
We're proud to partner with many Aussie wineries bearing strong Halliday ratings and accolades (2024 saw Bleasdale Vineyards win Halliday Winery of the Year!), and this year has seen some moving up in rank!
First up, Ministry of Clouds has gone from 5 red star rating to 5 red star rating! What does that mean, you ask? Wineries with their 5 red stars underlined have "a long track record of excellence", usually having maintained a 5-star rating continuously for 10 years, considered "truly the best of the best". An incredible feat for our friends in McLaren Vale!
On top of that, Mitchell Wines of Clare Valley saw their rating go from 4.5 stars to 5 stars, while Rymill of Coonawarra also climbed from 4 stars to 4.5.
Congratulations to our fabulous partners and all the excellent wineries featured in the 2025 companion. Exciting times! As Halliday shared, "at our annual awards this year, there was one conclusion that stood above all others: Australian wine is at its balanced best right now."
Sounds like the perfect time to try some wines from these award-winning collections!