With the recent release of the 2025 Halliday Wine Companion, coinciding with this year’s Awards, we’d like to highlight a few success stories from the portfolio. Halliday’s medals come with a very high rating – you have to achieve 95 points out of 100 to gain the gold, so these are most certainly the cream of the Australian crop. And, when the people in the know are saying things like: “leaves you screaming for another hit.”; “Formidable shiraz, done righteously.”; “Seamless and quite beautiful.”: “it’s mind blowing. Impressive.”; “makes me go all gooey-eyed”; “A delicious rendition”; “deliriously long palate.” – you know you’re onto a winner:
2025 Halliday Awards – Top Rated Wines
2023 Charles Melton DSC Riesling
“Those who spent endless hours in the vineyards were rewarded with synergistic, highly expressive, and healthy fruit. The result is that classic mix of citrus and Granny Smith apple on a deliriously long palate.” 96 points, James Halliday
2022 Charles Melton La Belle Mere
“A delicious rendition of juicy Barossa grenache/shiraz/mataro, a style that has blossomed over the past 10 to 20 years, here gaining an extra degree in an excellent vintage. Winemaker Charlie Melton has been a leader of the pack from the start.” 96 points, James Halliday
2021 Charles Melton The Kirche
“It’s a good-looking wine, this one. Pristine blackberry, black cherry, dark plum and blackcurrant fruits. Aromatically, the shiraz/cabernet split looks on equal pegging here despite the numbers. Not a hair out of place, with pure black fruits, layers of spice, beautifully judged oak use and a velvety transit across the palate, fine in tannin and looking wonderfully composed.” 96 points, Dave Brookes
2022 Howard Park Abercrombie Cabernet Sauvignon
” An impressive Abercrombie this vintage showcases all the varietal inputs – the cassis, the mulberries, licorice and nori plus the added extras – the judicious oak influence (30% new French barriques, aged 18 months) adding cedar and spice. It’s fuller bodied yet not weighty, with plentiful tannins yet textural and fine with some grip plus refreshing acidity keeping this composed.” 97 points, Jane Faulkner
2022 Serafino Reserve Grenache
“This glorious grenache has been built on three parcels from Blewitt Springs, McLaren Flat and Willunga. Brightly coloured, the bouquet is a rainbow of red and black cherry fruits sprinkled with spices, the palate bringing finespun tannins into play to give the wine a 10-year future.” 97 points, James Halliday
Halliday Gold Medals – currently available wines
2022 Charles Melton DSC GSR
“Here, 4% riesling was co-fermented with grenache and shiraz; matured for 18 months in French and American oak, 10% new. I like the freshness of this wine. Look. I think I might be going bonkers, but I’m sure I can see some lime in that bright acid profile. Which would make sense. Outside of that, the fruit – all red cherry, cranberry and red, plummy stuff – is gorgeous. Dotted with spice and citrus blossom tones, some nice space and detail within, with gentle tannins and that fresh acidity livening this up and providing velocity. Great medium-bodied drinking.” 95 points, Dave Brookes
2019 Charles Melton Nine Popes
“Charlie Melton’s Nine Popes was one of the first wines that make me fall in love with Barossa wines, and it still makes me go all gooey-eyed. It’s old-vine grenache and shiraz aged for 27 months in French oak (50% new). Wonderfully fragrant red and dark plum fruits with high tones of raspberry coulis and orange blossom. Under the fruit lies layered spice and hints of red licorice, redcurrant jelly, roasting meats and earth. The fruit on the palate is pure and true, the tannins tight, powdery and fine and there is a lovely cadence to the acidity as it propels the wine forward. It’s still, and always has been, a joy to drink.” 97 points, Dave Brookes
2018 Howard Park Abercrombie Cabernet Sauvignon
“Fruit from the Leston vineyard in Margaret River, and the Abercrombie vineyard in Mount Barker. The 2018 vintage produced wines of untold ripeness and balance and elevated the flavour concentration in almost every variety. This is concentrated and dense. There is a herbal bay/sage component to this wine that creates elegance and interest, the length of flavour very good. Classical cabernet. Minty/menthol.” 95 points, Erin Larkin
2022 Howard Park Allingham Chardonnay
“A lot of flavour has been built up from the winemaking – fermentation and aged in French oak (30% new), regular lees stirring and left on lees for 10 months, and it went through mlf. So expect lots of creamy, cedary oak and lemon oil flavours and texture. And yet, the palate remains restrained and tight and there’s a splash of lemon juice, zest, white nectarines and savoury overlay. The electrifying acidity drives this and it’s mind blowing. Impressive.” 95 points, Jane Faulkner
2020 Howard Park ASW Cabernet Shiraz
“Created from elegant and complex cabernet sauvignon from Block 29 with bold and rich shiraz from Block 4,’ says the front label, though no percentage is given for either varietal. Well, for my money the cabernet’s contribution has been of critical importance, providing the tannin structure, the cool and controlled fruit, and the cedary nuances that create the wine’s length. And that fresh acidity.” 96 points James Halliday
2023 Howard Park Chardonnay
“This is as tight as a drum – ping goes the sorbet-like acidity. It’s all lemon and grapefruit, moreish yet a little flinty, perky even, with refined cedary oak and lees all in the background, barely making a noise but humming along. Delicious for sure, quite energising but come back to this in another year and then we can really get the party started.” 95 points, Jane Faulkner
2018 Howard Park Leston Cabernet Sauvignon
It remains a very restrained, medium-bodied style of cabernet – this wine rarely pushes the richter for volume – and through the lens of the ripe and powerful 2018 vintage, it has a boost of the very best kind.” 95 points, Erin Larkin
2021 Majella Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon
“Black raspberry, red cherry and pomegranate. Burdock root, crushed cumin and pulled paperbark stripped from the tree. Nutmeg and cinnamon. Fresh bay leaf, oregano and pepperberry. The silkiest of palates with ripe red fruit flowing down the centre, wrapped in cabernet berries that weave in and out. A mocha coffee and carob sweetness with a touch of anise and tobacco pouch. Such a grateful palate – it’s a dream of a vintage, this one.” 95 points, Shanteh Wale + Gold (96 points) in the 2023 James Halliday Cabernet Sauvignon Challenge
2014 Majella Coonawarra Shiraz (Museum Release)
“Fermentation completed (after pressing) in hogsheads, matured for 18 months in French and American oak. Just when you think the oak may have been overplayed, the fruit comes charging through on the back-palate, finish and aftertaste. It lifts the whole feel of the wine, and is the consequence of sophisticated winemaking from vines planted as far back as ’69.” 95 points, James Halliday
2015 Majella GPL68
“Made from the original cabernet sauvignon vines planted in ’68. There’s a sturdiness to the tannin but this is essentially an even-tempered cabernet with cassis and bay leaf flavours pushing persuasively towards a dusty, ripe, convincing finish. There are no dips, no hiccups and no heavy-handedness apparent; it’s balanced just-so in the best of ways.” 96 Points, Campbell Mattinson
2017 Majella The Malleea Cabernet Shiraz
“55/45% cabernet sauvignon/shiraz. Vines on average 50 years old. Matured for 18 months in new French oak. This is super-fine, elegant, concentrated and restrained, all at once. The most successful cabernet shiraz blends have discernible features from both varieties; each dovetailed into the grooves of the other. This is a synchronised ebb and flow of flavour; a seesaw between the mouth-filling softness of shiraz, and the structured poise of the cabernet. Seamless and quite beautiful.” 96 Points, Erin Larkin
2019 Sevenhill Brother John May Shiraz
“This is serious gear. So deep, so dark, so potent and yet, stellar balance. Dark cherry, mocha and espresso characters amongst ripe plum, choc-orange, brined black olive and leafy, minty elements between bouquet and palate. Rich, satiny, very concentrated and finishes way, way into the distance. All the while finding an even keel between fruit ripeness, spice, wood seasoning and freshness. Formidable shiraz, done righteously.” 95 Points, Mike Bennie
2019 Sevenhill Quarry Road Cabernet Malbec
“An attractive medium to full-bodied palate reaffirming the Clare Valley’s synergy with this graceful Bordeaux blend.” 95 points, James Halliday (Weekend Australian)
2017 St Francis Xavier Museum Release Riesling
“From the Weikert Vineyard planted in the ’70’s. Less than a hectare in size, the Geisenheim clone, loam-over-shale soil, and sheltered aspect are considered ideal for producing outstanding riesling. The aromas and flavours are overwhelmingly grapefruit and lime juice, and the acidity is piercing, but there’s no trace of hardness.” 95 points, Steven Creber
2019 Sevenhill St Ignatius
“An ecumenical blend of cabernet sauvignon (52%) and merlot/malbec/cabernet franc from estate vines. Selective-harvested, matured in French hogsheads (40% new) for 19 months. Opens up with plenty on show, but it’s the full-bodied palate that sweeps all before it, the oak feisty, the black fruits complex and commanding.” 95 points, James Halliday
2021 Tscharke Stone Well Grenache
“Light crimson in the glass with notes of ripe plum, raspberry and cranberries set on a canvas of gingery spice, red licorice, earth, cola and purple flowers. There is a lovely flow of spiced, plummy fruit on the palate that’s pure and true. Superfine sandy tannins and a bright yet stony line of acidity drive the wine forward.” 95 points, Dave Brookes
2020 Tscharke Gnadenfrei Blanc (arriving soon)
“I do like some grenache blanc, and I am so happy someone is going the whole 10 yards with their treatment of this lovely grape variety. It’s raised in terracotta amphorae on full lees and feels calm and very composed as a result. Fruit tones of citrus, pear and apple, with some light clotted cream, marzipan, clover blossom, white tea, iced peach tea and lemon zest. It’s got a real clarity and detail to its form with a subtle ache of umami, a slatey, mineral-rich acid line and a sapid finish that leaves you screaming for another hit. Super stuff.” 95 points, Dave Brookes
