Halliday Wine Companion’s Best Wineries 2021

Every year, Australia’s most revered wine critic James Halliday sets the task of tasting over 9000 wines from around the country. The awards are a result of hundreds of hours tasting from the team at Halliday Wine Companion and creates the 800 page ‘Australian Wine Companion’ book, which can most accurately be described as the closest thing we have to a wine lover’s bible.

The 2021 virtual awards ceremony has revealed the best of the best with a plethora of local wineries gaining recognition in the 2021 edition of the guide.

So you can imagine the celebrations when 65 Margaret River Region wineries were given outstanding ‘5 star’ status by Halliday. 43 wineries from the region also achieved ‘red 5 star’ rating, which is an extra-special acknowledgement given to just 12% of the wineries rated by Halliday.

James Halliday on his 2021 best chardonnay. “Chardonnay is the world’s most popular white wine and many Australian regions produce exceptional examples. This year’s top-rated wine comes from Leeuwin Estate in the Margaret River. James Halliday’s pick for best Australian chardonnay of the year is a superb mixture of purity and intensity, with length and balance.”

James Halliday on his 2021 best rosé. “Rosé comes in many colours and flavour profiles. Apart from their appealing hues, these wines have attractively low price tags and make a great match for Asian flavours.”

James Halliday on his 2021 best sauvignon blanc. “This year’s best sauvignon blanc comes from Western Australia’s Margaret River Region – which also home to many of this year’s highly-rated sauvignon semillon blends.” This is the second consecutive year Flowstone have won best sauvignon blanc in the Australian Wine Companion Awards.

Virtually every one of Deep Wood Estate’s entries in the 2021 Halliday Wine Companion has a value rosette. Add them to your list on your next visit to the Margaret River Region.

All of the 10 wines submitted from Flowstone appear in the 2021 Halliday Wine Companion, nine with a value rosette, and four with 97 points.

Read on to find out which wineries received the highest recommendations from Australian Wine Companion and how they’re rated.

Brookland Valley
Cape Mentelle
Cullen Wines
Howard Park
Leeuwin Estate
Moss Wood
Vasse Felix
Voyager Estate
Woodlands

Amelia Park Wines
Clairault | Streicker Wines
Cloudburst
Credaro Family Estate
Deep Woods Estate
Domaine Naturaliste
Evans & Tate
Evoi Wines
Flametree
Flowstone Wines
Flying Fish Cove
Forester Estate
Fraser Gallop Estate
Happs
Hay Shed Hill Wines
Heydon Estate
Higher Plane
Juniper Estate
Lenton Brae Wines
McHenry Hohnen Vintners
Palmer Wines
Peccavi Wines
Pierro
Robert Oatley Margaret River
Sandalford
Snake + Herring
Stella Bella Wines
Thompson Estate
tripe.Iscariot
Twinwoods Estate
Victory Point Wines
Wills Domain
Xanadu Wines

Aravina Estate
Arlewood Estate
Brash Vineyard
Brown Hill Estate
Cape Naturaliste Vineyard
Churchview Estate
Driftwood Estate
Fermoy Estate
Firetail
Grace Farm
House of Cards
Jilyara of Wilyabrup
La Kooki Wines
Mr Barval Fine Wines
Nocturne Wines
Oates Ends
Trove Estate
Umamu Estate
Walsh & Sons
Windance Wines
Windows Estate
Wise Wine
Woody Nook

Outstanding winery regularly producing wines of exemplary quality and typicity. Will have at least two wines rated at 95 points or above, and had a five-star rating for the previous two years. Where the winery name is itself is printed in red, it is a winery generally acknowledged to have had a long track record of excellence in the context of its region — truly the best of the best.

Outstanding winery capable of producing wines of very high quality, and did so this year. Also will usually have at least two wines rated at 95 points or above.

• Vanya Cullen was awarded Winemaker of the Year in the 2020 edition
• Domaine Naturaliste was awarded Best Value Winery of the Year in the 2020 edition
• Julian Langworthy was awarded Winemaker of the Year in the 2019 edition
• Larry Cherubino Wines was awarded Best Value Winery of the Year in the 2017 edition
• Arlewood Estate was awarded Dark Horse of the Year in the 2017 edition
• Xanadu Stevens Road Cabernet Sauvignon 2011 was awarded Wine of the Year in the 2015 edition