Wondering what are the best Australian wines? The highly anticipated 2023 Halliday Wine Companion Awards have been and gone, recognising the best of the best of the nation’s top wines, winemakers, viticulturists, and wineries.

Our very own Margaret River and Perth Hills were among the major award winners (no surprise there) cleaning up the competition with four major awards, along with Tasmania, Yarra Valley, Great Western, and Adelaide Hills.

Reisling came in as arguably Australia’s best-value grape variety, with 33% earning the Companion’s Special Value rosette, while Western Australia secured more major award winners than any other state and Margaret River was noted to have more 5-star wineries than any other region. We’re unofficially naming WA the wine capital of Australia now.

If you don’t have some of these on your rack already, it’s time to add to the collection, and probably book a down south trip to visit.

See Also: 10 Best Wine Tours In Australia

2023 Major Award Winners

• Winery of The Year – Pooley Wines, Tasmania
• Winemaker of The Year – Glenn Goodall, Xanadu Wines, Margaret River, WA
• Viticulturist of The Year – Tom Carson, Serrat, Yarra Valley, VIC
• Best New Winery – Living Roots, Adelaide Hills, SA
• Dark Horse Winery – L.A.S. Vino, Margaret River, WA
• Best Value Winery – Deeps Woods Estate, Margaret River, WA
• Wine Of The Year – Best’s Wines Foudre Ferment Riesling 2021, Great Western – 96 points

2023 Varietal Winners

• Sparkling White of the Year – Gilbert Family Wines Blanc de Blancs Chardonnay 2016 Orange – 97 points
• Sparkling Red of the Year – Teusner MC Sparkling Shiraz 2017 Barossa Valley – 95 points
• Sparkling Rosé of the Year – Pipers Brook Vineyard Kreglinger Brut Rosé 2017 Tasmania – 96 points
• Rosé of the Year – Spinifex Luxe 2021 Barossa – 93 points
• Sauvignon Blanc of the Year – Flowstone Wines Queen of the Earth Sauvignon Blanc 2020 Margaret River – 96 points
• Other Whites (and Blends) of the Year – Briar Ridge Vineyard Albariño 2021 Hunter Valley – 95 points
• Semillon of the Year – Brokenwood Sunshine Vineyard Semillon 2014 Hunter Valley – 97 points
• Riesling of the Year – Henschke Julius Riesling 2021 Eden Valley – 98 points, Best’s Wines Foudre Ferment Riesling 2021, Great Western – 96 points
• Chardonnay of the Year – Stella Bella Wines Luminosa Chardonnay 2020 Margaret River – 98 points
• Pinot Noir of the Year – Lowestoft La Maison Pinot Noir 2020 Tasmania – 96 points
• Grenache (and Blends) of the Year – Chalk Hill Alpha Crucis Old Vine Grenache 2020 McLaren Vale – 98 points
• Other Reds (and Blends) of the Year – Koomilya Cabernet Touriga 2018 McLaren Vale – 97 points
• Shiraz of the Year – Battles Wine Granitis Shiraz 2020 Perth Hills – 96 points
• Cabernet Shiraz of the Year – Hickinbotham Clarendon Vineyard The Peake Cabernet Shiraz 2020 McLaren Vale– 97 points
• Cabernet Sauvignon of the Year – Bleasdale Vineyards The Iron Duke Cabernet Sauvignon 2020 Langhorne Creek – 98 points
• Cabernet Sauvignon (and Family) of the Year – Mount Mary Quintet 2020 Yarra Valley – 98 points
• Sweet Wine of the Year – Brown Brothers Patricia Noble Riesling 2019 Victoria – 95 points
• Fortified Wine of the Year – Seppeltsfield 100-Year-Old Para Vintage Tawny 1922 Barossa Valley – 100 points

See more at winecompanion.com.au

Images Supplied

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