Halliday Wine Companion Top 100 Wineries 2024: 1–25

Best wineries Australia

The Halliday Wine Companion Top 100 Wineries 2024 celebrates the best producers in Australia right now.

Taking out the top spot for 2024 is Hunter Valley icon Tyrrell's Wines. Tyrrell’s has been ranked the number one winery for its exceptional portfolio, which encompasses everyday wines, along with some of the finest single-site expressions in the country. Coming in at a close second is the Yarra Valley's Giant Steps, which was also named the 2025 Winery of Year in the 2025 Companion.

Beechworth's Giaconda sits at number three, with some of the top Hunter Valley wineries represented, and some of the best wineries in the Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, Coonawarra, Clare Valley and Eden Valley flying the flag for SA.

Cullen Wines and Vasse Felix are home to some of the best wine from Margaret River, while House of Arras and Pooley are two of the best wineries to visit in Tasmania. Mulline has the Bellarine Peninsula covered when it comes to one of the best Geelong wineries, and the Macedon Ranges' Bindi Wines and Gippsland's Bass Phillip feature at number 11 and 19, respectively.

View the Top 100 Wineries: 26–50

View the Top 100 Wineries: 51–75

View the Top 100 Wineries: 76–100

Tyrrell’s Wines | Giant Steps | Giaconda | Yangarra Estate Vineyard | Mount Mary | Oakridge Wines | Cullen Wines | Grosset | Yarra Yering | Mount Pleasant | Bindi Wines | House of Arras | Vasse Felix | Henschke | Penfolds | Mulline | Koomilya | Tolpuddle Vineyard | Bass Phillip | Yeringberg | The Standish Wine Company | Pooley | Wendouree | Yalumba | Wynns Coonawarra Estate

1. Tyrrell's Wines

With the family estate founded in 1858, it would be easy for Tyrrell’s to rest on tradition – so deep and so profound it is – to settle into the comfort of cruise control. But that’s never been the Tyrrell’s style. History is the deep heartbeat, but constant refinement the modus operandi. Chris Tyrrell is the fifth-generation custodian of the family estate, taking the operational lead in 2014. That was an auspiciously fine vintage to take the reins, and a decade later, Chris’ leadership – alongside his legendary father, Bruce – has ensured an ever-upward arc, with the estate refined into one of peerless excellence. There are a lot of wines under the Tyrrell’s banner, but all have their place, from the everyday up to some of this country’s finest single-site expressions. And while blending across sites has always been a highpoint, that isolation and celebration of exceptional vineyards and blocks, coupled with a deftly light touch in the winery, rightly enshrine Tyrrell’s greatness. Just over two dozen wines were submitted to the 2025 Companion, across a range of prices, and over half notched gold-medal scores, with eleven 96 or higher. Tyrrell’s are in rarefied territory.

5 ★ winery | Halliday profile | Tyrrell's Wines | @tyrrellswines

2. Brokenwood

Brokenwood, the 2026 Winery of the Year, returned a stellar roster of results, with 15 gold-medal-level wines, cresting with the superb 2023 Graveyard Shiraz at 99 points. Winemakers Stuart Hordern and Kate Sturgess preside over a vast range of wines of both unerring quality and individual character. Iain Riggs shaped this Hunter great, focusing the ambitions of Tony Albert, John Beeston and James Halliday who planted their first vines in 1970. From those humble but intensely passionate beginnings, Brokenwood has built an identity like few other modern Hunter Valley estates, but they have also spread their tentacles, making wine from as far afield as Margaret River, McLaren Vale and Beechworth, while also sourcing fruit closer to home in the Canberra District, Orange and the Central Ranges. It’s an incredibly intricate web, founded on the principle of working with regions best suited to variety. And the wines express that, with all keenly reflective of place, all purposeful, all made with a sympathetic guiding hand. Brokenwood is also home to one of the country’s finest cellar doors, with a range of experiences from a quick tasting to full immersion. It’s testament to the collaborative spirit of Brokenwood that they also team up with Tyrrell’s and Audrey Wilkinson to celebrate the region with a tasting of iconic wines. Brokenwood is a regional champion, and a champion of regions, and the wines are uniformly excellent.

5 ★ winery | Brokenwood profile | Winery website | @brokenwoodwines

3. Oakridge

Dave Bicknell has led Oakridge from 2002, fashioning it, under three different owners, into one of the Yarra Valley’s best addresses. More than that, though, with the wines from classic Yarra varieties unquestionably world class, standing shoulder to shoulder with the best the new or old world could throw at them. It is still chardonnay that perhaps defines the estate, but pinot noir is its equal, with cabernet and shiraz excellent, too. There’s also fine riesling, traditional method sparkling and pinot meunier. Oakridge has carefully acquired key distinguished sites and leases and manages others, with Steve Faulkner farming according to ‘biological’ methods. Soil health and sustainability are central pillars, as is biodiversity and ‘cultural techniques’ to build resilience and combat pests and disease naturally. It’s winegrowing at its best. There is not much left for Oakridge and Dave to win in terms of accolades, but they will keep coming (16 gold medal scores in the 2026 Companion), as this brilliant estate only knows excellence, and unbelievably, only seems to be getting better.

5 ★ winery | Oakridge profile | Winery website | @oakridgewines

4. Mount Mary

The 2023 Mount Mary Pinot Noir was Pinot Noir of the Year in the 2026 Companion, adding a fifth title for the wine, joining the 2017, ’15, ’13 and ’12, as victors in one of the most tightly contested categories. Extraordinary, really. If the Yarra Valley had Grand Crus, like Burgundy, or First Growths, like Bordeaux, Mount Mary would be accorded both honours. And for the same vineyard. Anathema to the French, no doubt, but undeniable in the glass. These are the strengths of the Yarra, of course, but no estate does it quite like Mount Mary across their quartet of flagship bottlings, reaching the loftiest heights in each and every vintage under the composed stewardship of Sam Middleton. He’s the third generation at this iconic estate, the grandson of Marli and Dr John Middleton. There’s a real sense of history in that, and you can feel it in the wines, from that classic label to the classical quality of the wines, all refinement and endlessly complex, serene detail. That the estate is still in family hands adds to this, and it feels like it always will be, writing a story as good as any of the great estates of the old world. Mount Mary is a national treasure.

5 ★ winery | Mount Mary profile | Winery website | @mountmaryvineyard

5. Tyrrell’s Wines

The top winery in the 2024 Top 100 list, Tyrrell’s has long been one of Australia's greatest estates. There’s almost too much to say about Tyrrell’s, so rich it is in history. Bruce Tyrrell no doubt has a thousand more stories, and as good as the ones better known. The Hunter is naturally known for its unique way with racy semillon and medium-weighted savoury shiraz that inexplicably come out of this hot and humid climate, but it is also the cradle of pinot noir and chardonnay in this country, with Mount Pleasant’s Maurice O’Shea cultivating the former (it’s where MV6 comes from), and Murray Tyrrell the latter. He allegedy jumped a fence and took cuttings from the HVD Vineyard (which they now own). True or not, the 1968 plantings were the genesis of Vat 47 – our oldest continuously produced chardonnay. At Tyrrell’s, the winemaking is masterful but simple under the watch of Andrew Spinaze (whites) and Mark Richardson (reds), who between them have an incredible 76 vintages there. That simplicity reflects the exceptional vineyard assets at Tyrrell’s. That’s the heart of the matter: the finest vineyards, each differentiated in soil, and each planted to the right varieties, farmed sustainably, then elaborated simply. The Tyrrell’s portfolio is stuffed with iconic bottlings, and they have never shone as brightly – as 20 gold-medal scores in the 2026 Companion attests. Also, led by the affable, thoughtful and passionate Chris Tyrrell, the long-term future and continued heightening of this extraordinary estate is something to be genuinely excited about.

5 ★ winery | Tyrrell's Wines profile | Winery website | @tyrrellswines

6. Yarra Yering

Yarra Yering is a towering icon of Australian wine. And today, it is in the shape of its life. Sarah Crowe has been the winemaker for over a decade, achieving more than most would dare dream in a lifetime. Yes, she landed at a fabled address, but that can be a poisoned chalice, especially with the sentiment attached to the visionary Dr Bailey Carrodus. From the start, Sarah has understood the importance of both legacy and advancement – that neither should hinder the other. She was never going to emulate the Doctor’s legendary fortress-like mentality. A forthright and open approach is her way. It’s about sharing the message, which quickly leads her to credit the synergy with vineyard manager Andrew George as key to the estate’s more recent achievements. The wines are brilliant, refined, detailed, never showy, and always clearly following the arc of the seasons. The classic Dry Red No. 1 and Dry Red No. 2 bottlings are deserving pinnacles, but Sarah has also significantly elevated chardonnay and pinot noir, added a Hunter-inspired shiraz and pinot blend, while also focusing on the Doctor’s far-sighted plantings of Portuguese varieties to refine the Dry Red No. 3 into one of the estate’s most awarded wines. This is what respectful custodianship intrinsically paired with the tireless quest for betterment looks like, and we’re the winners.

5 ★ winery | Yarra Yering profile | Winery website | @yarra_yering

7. Yangarra Estate Vineyard

There are many excellent vineyards in Australia, but few can lay claim to singular sites of grand-cru-like quality, ones that consistently turn out wines that both echo their origin and reach their peak. But High Sands, with those 1946-planted vines anchored in deep sand over ironstone in the most elevated section of the Yangarra vineyard, is unquestionably one of them. The 2023 High Sands Grenache is a significant landmark, a wine of effortless brilliance, clarity, depth and profound structure. Those vines and that site are conveyed so clearly, articulated through the conduit of peerless biodynamic viticulture and Pete Fraser’s winemaking, which has been finely tuned over more than two decades at the estate. Observing and ‘listening’ to the vineyard and working to enhance and frame, employing a range of vessels from ceramic eggs and cocciopesto amphorae to foudre and gentle and often very long extraction methods, have cemented his reputation as one of our great modern winemakers. That is without doubt. High Sands is rightfully the pinnacle, but behind it the ranks swell with excellence across both red and white varieties, with the Single Block Selection all, bar one, receiving 97 points – and that wine was only a point back – in the 2026 Companion. That quality washes right down to the more accessible Estate and Circle wines, reinforcing the Yangarra name as a trust mark of almost unmatched assurance. Simply put, this is a great estate.

5 ★ winery | Yangarra Estate Vineyard profile | Winery website | @yangarraestate

8. Giant Steps

Melanie Chester took on the significant role as head of winemaking and viticulture at Giant Steps in 2021. It was an ideal fit, as she was an avid admirer and follower of the wines when Steve Flamsteed was steering the Yarra great. She came in with plenty of intel, in other words. She also came in with seemingly endless enthusiasm and the desire to continue to develop a culture of empowering and fostering the talents of her entire team. The success of that is palpable at any visit here, or at any event. She knew intrinsically that Giant Steps, Halliday Wine Companion 2025 Winery of the Year, was never about one person or one place. Rather, its excellence was keenly due to its diversity of insights and its collaborative nature, and through the whole operation, from farming to telling the stories, to getting the message out. Diversity is intrinsic to Giant Steps, with the foundation a panoply of sites that have their own distinct personalities, articulated through single-site bottlings. The legendary Bastard Hill was also acquired on Mel’s watch, and the returns have been substantial, and they will only grow. She also added a new line, Circle of Fifths. A pinot noir and a chardonnay, both are blends of all the estate vineyards, village wines, if you will, and they neatly slot into the hierarchy. And both with gold-medal scores in a tally of 13 for the 2026 Companion. Giant Steps never misses a beat, and it only grows in stature as the vintages roll on. Bravo.

5 ★ winery | Giant Steps profile | Winery website | @giantstepswine

9. Giaconda

Gold and Giaconda go together, from the glimmering foil on the label to the gold-mining country it rests on to the awards that have been rightly heaped at its feet. Giaconda unquestionably makes one of Australia’s greatest chardonnays, and for many it is without peer. Rick Kinzbrunner famously carved out a cellar from pure granite in the hillside at Giaconda. It’s a cave for wine to slumber in ideal conditions, of course, but it also feels like an homage to both the great old cellars of Burgundy and the goldfields history of the region. There’s no dwelling in the past, though, with that seemingly ancient cave powered by solar energy, and a very progressive, sustainable approach across the whole operation. That progression extends to regular replanting, with the second-tier Nantua chardonnay soon to be all estate fruit, a doubling of pinot noir density to build even more complexity and estate roussanne plantings coming online. There is also a plan to graft the estate shiraz to chardonnay and roussanne, though the final decision is still to be made. Either way, it shows the unwavering spirit of always pushing, after 43 years, to better represent this special site. If you could put just one maker forward to show just how great Australian wine can be, Giaconda would be a no-brainer.

5 ★ winery | Giaconda profile | Winery website 

10. House of Arras

It’s the 30th anniversary for House of Arras, and for its stewardship by the indefatigable Ed Carr. More than steward. Architect, visionary. As you please. Inspired by Champagne, yet never imitative of it, Ed has triumphed with this impressive gambit, crafting wines their equal, but always distinctly Tasmanian, always distinctly Arras. And more than that, he has taken the story to the world, and it has resonated like few others. It’s a year or so after Arras was sold. When significant wineries are sold, there is always concern. So many labels have been stripped of their experience and acquired intelligence, existing as brands as thin as the paper of the labels. Not so Arras. Support, indeed enhancement was promised, and it was delivered. You can see it in Ed’s calm demeanour that Arras will be amply resourced, and that it will grow and flourish into the distant future. For anyone lucky enough to taste the just-released 2006 EJ Carr Late disgorged 30th Anniversary Special release, it’s a message in a bottle from the early years foreshadowing the wisdom of that investment.

5 ★ winery | House of Arras profile | Winery website | @houseofarras

11. Yalumba

Robert Hill-Smith is the sixth-generation steward of this great family estate. Historic wineries often drift from family hands, sometimes the result of hard times or over-ambitious aims. But Yalumba has never been so tightly held. While ambition and growth have always been central to Yalumba, the approach has always been measured, thoughtful, founded on sound reasoning and hard work. That they could champion viognier and succeed when no-one else could says something for the vigour and commitment. And while Yalumba is anchored in the soils and the history of the Barossa, under Robert’s governance it has never been parochial. That the family also own Negociants, a long-time leading importer of exceptional wines from across the globe, pays testament to that. Familiarity with the wines of the world is a feature of many of the best makers, and the Hill-Smith family have been bringing the wines to our shores since 1984. The family own many iconic brands, including Pewsey Vale and Heggies, but the Yalumba name alone accounts for some seriously iconic bottlings: The Signature, The Octavius, The Caley, The Menzies, Tri-Centenary Grenache, The Virgilius Viognier. Those wines are as good as ever, all receiving golds in the 2026 Companion, peaking with 99 points for The Caley. 

5 ★ winery | Yalumba profile | Winery website | @yalumbawine

12. Koomilya

The Koomilya vineyard means a lot to Stephen Pannell. It was partly responsible for his first Jimmy Watson win. But that’s not why. That was an achievement, of course, but you’d never catch him making a wine like that again. It’s about the place. A cliché perhaps, and true anywhere, but it’s not any old place. Those earlier years working with fruit from the site showed there was something special here, even if it would take a couple of decades to know exactly what to do with it, to unlearn what was alleged to make a wine good. To paraphrase him: "If a wine looks like I’ve made it, then I’ve stuffed up." Take a trip to Koomilya, taste under the gums, wild orchids at your feet, the complex scents of the bush in the air, and the dots will instantly connect. Three key shiraz blocks, closely sharing space, yet distinct year on year, are the nucleus of the vineyard, with the 2022 JC Block the 2026 Halliday Shiraz of the Year with 99 points. These are special wines, some of this country’s finest, and when you also consider the impressive Bandol-like rosé and touriga blends, this is unquestionably one of our greatest modern estates. 

5 ★ winery | Koomilya profile | Winery website | @koomilya

13. Henschke

Six generations deep, Henschke has quite some history behind it. It also has a clear future, with Stephen and Prue Henschke’s three children, Johann, Justine and Andreas, active in the business. In 2023, the team was bolstered with Gwyn Olsen appointed senior winemaker, working alongside Stephen. Underpinning Henschke is a commitment to restoring the land and enhancing biodiversity. Half the land has been replanted with trees, shrubs and grasses, with 150 hectares of bushland and 32 hectares of native trees under conservation. That extends to native grasses in the mid-rows, helping to retain soil moisture, encourage pest predators and improve soil biology. Organic and biodynamic practices, a no-till policy and mulching and composting have long been part of Prue’s viticultural work, maximising the fruit quality across their estate vineyards, from the ancient Hill of Grace vines to those younger in the Adelaide Hills. There is arguably no more distinctive a shiraz flagship as Hill of Grace, and the 2021 is as good as it gets. As Dave Brookes wrote: "This release will go down in the annals of Australian fine wine as one of the classic releases for Hill of Grace." Henschke would gallop into the Top 100 on that wine alone, but the quality runs deep. Dave again, on the 2021 Mount Edelstone: "It'll go down as one of the greats." And the hits just keep coming.

5 ★ winery | Henschke profile | Winery website | @henschke

14. The Standish Wine Company

Dan Standish has built something important. A Barossa icon that pays homage to territory and (mostly) old vines, celebrating regional power and drive without excess, leaning into detail. And he did so at a time when bigger was seen as better. But that’s not Dan’s style. Educated on the great wines of the world and having worked extensively in Europe, his path is a focused one, absent fanfare and anything so showy as marketing or a cellar door. It’s been 26 years since he founded the brand while he was the winemaker at Torbreck. Humble beginnings, but he went all in and quickly became one of the Barossa’s most sought after makers, with allocations eagerly snapped up both domestically and internationally. The 2023 wines cap off a trio of exceptional releases, with the quartet of shiraz bottlings – Lamella, Schubert Theorem, The Relic and The Standish – scoring no lower than 96, but mostly 97 and 98. The ’23s were scored no lower than 97, with The Schubert Theorem awarded 98. Dan is a foundational pillar of the new Barossa, with an approach that is essentially progressive but always respectful. As Dave Brookes writes, "The Standish leitmotif is fruit purity and transparency of site". The wines, from a sixth-generation Barossan, are consistently some of the most exciting Australian shiraz wines released in any given year. 

5 ★ winery | The Standish Wine Company profile | Winery website | @standishwineco

15. Penfolds

It would be easy to argue that Penfolds is Australia’s most important wine brand. Yes, for making such totemic wines as Grange, Bin 707, 407, 389, Yattarna, St Henri... (it’s a long list) but also for taking the quality message of Australian wines to the world. Although likely hard to measure, it’s hard to imagine there is an Australian wine brand more recognised globally, and it connotes luxury to the highest quality, even if there are also ample value wines in its sprawling portfolio. Under the guidance of the ever-restless Peter Gago, new projects spring from Penfolds with seeming abandon, with international collabs, wines made in China, France and the USA and an expanding range of Bin wines from all over the country. At its core, though, remains the classic range, true bastions of Australian wine, and as good now as they have ever been. 

5 ★ winery | Penfolds profile | Winery website | @penfolds

16. Thistledown Wines

Home of the 2026 Companion's Wine of the Year, the 2024 This Charming Man Grenache (99 points), Giles Cooke’s Thistledown is in the grenache vanguard, but it’s much more than that. In 2025, Giles bought out parent company Alliance Wines, bringing in longtime right-hand man Paddy Gilhooly (sales and marketing) and his wife Laura Samson (marketing) into the ownership circle. It’s a formidable, yet not forbidding, trio, and it couldn’t be better for the continuity of one of this country’s most important labels. The phalanx of exceptional old-vine McLaren Vale grenache, so delicately expressed, is hard to take your eyes off, but the 2026 Wine Companion also saw golds for Adelaide Hills chardonnay, Barossa grenache and shiraz, and a roussanne and grenache blanc blend from the Vale. A dozen golds in all, including a 97 for the Smart Vineyard Grenache released under the Our Fathers label, with all profits going to charity. A recent shift in sites in the Barossa follows renowned grape-grower Joel Mattschoss’s purchase of the old Trial Hill Vineyard – a site of immense potential, as evidenced by the 2024 Thistledown releases. Coupled with an exceptional new site for chardonnay in the Hills, this brilliant Thistledown is on track to be even more exciting, which is a tantalising thought. 

5 ★ winery | Thistledown Wines profile | Winery website | @thistledownwines

17. Bass Phillip

Phillip Jones sold his groundbreaking Gippsland winery in 2020, trusting that it was safe under the guidance of Domaine Fourrier’s Jean-Marie Fourrier. The succession could not have been a better fit, with Phillip and Jean-Marie sharing similar ideals, from farming to making. It must have been a solace for Phillip that a life’s work would be carried on, and that it could also be enhanced. Jean-Marie was never going to buy a property halfway around the world without a firm belief in its potential. In fact, he was somewhat familiar with the vineyards and wines, having met Phillip Jones in Gippsland a dozen or so years earlier. Some leading wineries have been sold in the last decade or so, but unlike the corporate raiding days of the ’80s and ’90s that saw brands trashed, many recent major acquisitions have been respectful, indeed founded on admiration and with a desire to continue a legacy. That is true here, and the recent releases are liquid proof of that, showing that Jean-Marie’s investment was more than sound, and that Phillip’s faith has been rewarded.

5 ★ winery | Bass Phillip profile | Winery website | @bassphillipofficial

18. Bindi Wines

Bindi is a beacon of quality in the lofty cool of the Macedon Ranges, making mineral-etched wines of great finesse and detail. Michael Dhillon is a thoughtful man. Sensitive in the best ways. One only needs read his vintage notes or his lucidly poetic words on social media to know he is a deep thinker, and one emotionally connected to his place, and to the family history there. Bindi is a 170 hectare property in Gisborne, with seven hectares of vines and most of the land conserved as remnant bush and grasslands. That is in keeping with Michael’s tread softly approach, with the vineyard managed with organic methods since 2005 (not certified), and a gentle hand in the winery. The vineyard consists of several blocks on varying soil types, with some newer high density plantings at 11,300 and up to 22,600 vines per hectare. Michael now makes a range of wines from sourced fruit, from both Macedon and Heathcote, but it is those home vines that turn out Bindi’s emblematic wines, arguably peaking with the Block 5 and Block 8 Pinot Noirs and electric Quartz Chardonnay, though the more accessible Kostas Rind Chardonnay and Dixon Pinot Noir are no less compelling.

5 ★ winery | Bindi Wines profile | Winery website | @bindiwines

19. Sami-Odi

Fraser McKinley is in demand. His Sami-Odi wines have a cult-like following. That’s unfair, as cults often connote blind devotion, believing the unbelievable and accepting the unacceptable. Fraser’s followers are not gullible. He releases about 1000 cases a year, mainly from the Dallwitz block from the Hoffmann Vineyard, but also a small amount from his home site in the Eden Valley. The active buyers, a reportedly oversubscribed list, snap up their allocations swiftly, leaving the 30,000 or so on the waiting list perennially disappointed. What’s all the fuss? Well, Fraser’s is a singular voice, with wines crafted with an artist’s vision. That may sound a tad pompous, but there’s nothing pompous about Fraser, nor his approach. Eschewing technology or winemaking intrusions, he makes vintage wines, but he is justifiably lauded for his impossibly complex blends across vintages. Those vintage wines are superb artisanal wines, evocative of Australian reds of a distant past, but the blends are irreplicable wines, abstract masterworks painted with a broad palette, everything intuitively arranged, breaking all conventions but resonating deeply with the observer. It is not hyperbole to say that Sami-odi is truly unique.

5 ★ winery | Sami-Odi profile | Winery website 

20. Cullen Wines

Margaret River is blessed with several foundational wineries. More so, given most of them are in the best of form. This is unquestionably true of Cullen, with Vanya Cullen’s obsessive stewardship elevating it to dizzying heights. Obsessive may sound extreme, but it fits. Vanya has a deep emotional connection to the land and her family history, and a respectful connection to what was here before and a responsibility for the future. The vineyards, their holistic biodynamic farming, the building of biodiversity above and below ground, and the biodynamic making in the winery are central, but Vanya is a big picture thinker – caring for the planet is a moral responsibility. Every impact of the operation, from farming through to packaging and air and road miles are considered, with the property a carbon sink, absorbing substantially more than what is emitted. When Cullen first proudly declared biodynamic certification in the early 2000s, there was a backlash, a view that wine quality was secondary. Nonsense, of course, but such were the times. There’s no better validation than the scintillating Cullen wines of today. Obsessive, brilliant, a maverick in her own way, Vanya has polished an excellent winery into a multi-faceted gem and a guiding light for what is possible with an unwaveringly ethical creed.

5 ★ winery | Cullen Wines profile | Winery website | @cullenwines

21. Tolpuddle Vineyard

Martin Shaw and Michael Hill Smith MW have been instrumental in making some significant wine in their time, driving interest in styles and regions like few others. A keen eye for vineyards is part their skillset, and being in the right place at the right time helps. There was no compromising on a Tasmanian site, as they knew the vast potential of the island. Now with a dozen vintages, they have paired with Adam Wadewitz to cement Tolpuddle as one of Australia’s elite chardonnay and pinot noir producers. Just two wines, the best they can be, no reserve bottling, no portfolio wines for the cellar door (with the exception of Loveless, produced for the first time in 2024 from the vineyard's younger pinot noir vines). That cellar door, opened in late 2024, is a stylish pavilion made of steel, stone and glass that overlooks the vines. The confidence in those wines and a special vineyard is reflected in that offering, with just the current release wines and an older example on tasting. It’s bold, and a powerful statement. In the hands of Pip Anderson and chef Sam Bray, the experience is further elevated. They didn’t need to build this, and staff it so outrageously well, as the wines sell out in a heartbeat. This is representation, showing off the best of Tasmania to the world.

5 ★ winery | Tolpuddle Vineyard profile | Winery website | @tolpuddlevineyard

22. Leeuwin Estate

The Horgan family famously enlisted legendary Californian vigneron Robert Mondavi to mentor the establishment of the estate, with the ambition to make world-class wine there from the outset. The first commercial vintage was 1979, and the 1981 Art Series Chardonnay pushed them into the international spotlight. That spotlight has only brightened, with accolades too numerous to list. Leeuwin Estate has become recognised the world over, and it is one of the biggest visitor attractions in Margaret River, whether for the cellar door, art gallery or highly awarded restaurant. Bob Cartwright wrote the script for Leeuwin’s talismanic chardonnay over 28 years, but that script has been edited and refined over time, with current (since 2016) chief winemaker Tim Lovett always looking for the one-percent improvements while maintaining the distinctly Leeuwin style. Oak toast has been dialled back, and brief skin contact and high solids ferments have added textural complexity. The cabernet is also excellent under Tim, and the quality runs right through the ranges, from the aspirational to the everyday.

5 ★ winery | Leeuwin Estate profile | Winery website | @leeuwinestate

23. Grosset

Jeffrey Grosset has long been lauded as one of our finest exponents of riesling, and for good reason. He has taken riesling seriously for a long time, but he needed to widen the circle and get others serious about it. There’s a great history here for the grape, but its image was also tarnished, and there was a perception that riesling should be cheap. That’s an absurdity when you consider the great rieslings of the world, and the potential in this country. Jeffrey knew that, and he has advanced the premium reputation of the grape like few others. Of course, it’s not just riesling, with cabernets and fiano (one of the early adopters) from the Clare, and chardonnay and pinot noir from the Adelaide Hills. Those rieslings, though. Grosset has made some of this country’s finest and longest lived renditions of the grape, and the increasing vine age and biodynamic farming gains have meant the wines have been somewhat insulated in the vagaries of the seasons, always delivering pitch-perfect purity with intensity, flavour depth and brilliantly natural verve. Jeffrey is a precise, intellectual man, and you can see that rigour in the rieslings, but they are also wines that feel unforced, wines invested with a sense of the land, the year and that most expressive grape.

5 ★ winery | Grosset profile | Winery website | @grossetwines

24. Bannockburn Vineyards

They have distinct epochs at Bannockburn. The first was under the direction of founder and visionary Stuart Hooper and winemaker Gary Farr (By Farr). The pair carved out a formidable reputation, making groundbreaking chardonnay and pinot noir, along with less-exalted but no less-compelling expressions of shiraz, riesling and sauvignon blanc. The second was under winemaker Michael Glover. Today, Matt Holmes has held the reins for a little over a decade. Each epoch has been defined by its winemaking steward, with Matt a quietly considered shepherd, making some of the best wines to come off this revered site. Much of that he humbly puts down to improved soil and vine health under the direction of Lucas Grigsby and Doug Clarke, with the former almost four decades into his role. The close-planted blocks are all certified organic, with the rest in conversion and an even denser plot of pinot noir in the planning. No doubt it is the collaborative effort responsible for this marquee estate being in the shape of its life on its 50th anniversary. The wines are still stamped with the Bannockburn DNA, but there is a finesse, refinement and pitch-perfect balance that is the hallmark of Matt’s tenure.

5 ★ winery | Bannockburn Vineyards profile | Winery website | @bannockburnvineyards

25. Hoddles Creek Estate

Value has always been a guiding principle at Hoddles Creek Estate. It’s almost a distraction mentioning it, but so keen is that proposition that it would be remiss to skim over. It’s something the D’Anna family could easily change by putting their prices up by 20 or 30 per cent, or not, as the wines would still overdeliver. To illustrate that point, of the 10 gold-medal scores awarded in the 2026 Companion, two went to Wickham’s Road wines, a pinot noir and chardonnay, which have a full RRP of $20. Head-scratching stuff, but nothing to complain about. Even the gold-medal estate wines start at $26 and are often tightly allocated to the trade. It’s purposeful of course, and admirable in a world of prices spiralling upwards. As said, the value proposition can be a distraction, as Franco D’Anna is making some of the finest chardonnay and pinot noir in the Yarra (97 and 98 respectively for the 2023 1ers and 97 for the 2022 Syberia Chardonnay) regardless of price. He’s also excelling with pinot gris and is undoubtedly making this country’s finest renditions of pinot blanc. Hoddles Creek Estate always delivers, and on every level.

5 ★ winery | Hoddles Creek Estate profile | Winery website | @hoddlescreekestate

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