The Halliday Wine Companion Awards celebrate the top wines in Australia – as chosen by our esteemed wine critics who spend the year tasting and reviewing wine from across the country. Below, you'll find Australia's best red wines that don't fall into our main varietal categories, along with the ratings awarded by the Tasting Team.
This category – known as other reds and blends – now is now comprised of grenache blends, shiraz cabernet blends and less common red varieties (by Australian standards). And for 2026, a modern take (with a long legacy) on the Great Australian Red took out the top gong. The winner of this year's Other Reds and Blends of the Year goes to
Tyrrell’s Wines Vat 8 – a multiregional blend of
Hunter Valley shiraz and
McLaren Vale cabernet sauvignon.
2026 Other Reds and Blends of the Year
98 points (PD*) | Price when tasted $110
