Being a professional wine taster has gotta be up there on the coolest jobs in the world list, somewhere between waterslide reviewer and private island caretaker. But trying to discover the best wines in Australia is no easy feat. In fact, judges for the 2025 Halliday Wine Companion Awards tasted more than 7,500 wines in just three short boozy days.
The prestigious national competition is serious business, this year culminating in an awards night at Melbourne’s Ormond Hall – arguably, the most exciting date of any Aussie winemaker’s calendar year. After all, The Halliday Wine Companion, founded by James Halliday almost 30 years ago, is the definitive guide to Australian wine. Its hallowed pages contain the nation's top wines, winemakers, viticulturists and wineries, and its panel tastes wines from more than 1,500 wineries.
That’s why a huge congrats is in order for Victoria’s very own Giant Steps, which took home the most coveted award of the night: Winery of the Year. The Yarra Valley legend also took home Pinot Noir of the Year for its Applejack Vineyard Pinot Noir 2023.
Out of the 16 varietal prizes up for grabs, a whopping ten were awarded to Victorian wineries, proof that our state really does make some of the best vino in the country. Oakridge's 864 Drive Block Funder and Diamond Vineyard Chardonnay 2022 won Chardonnay of the Year, White Wine of the Year and Wine of the Year; Yarra Yering's Dry Red Wine No. 2 2022 won Shiraz of the Year and Red Wine of the Year; and Brown Brothers' Patricia Brut Pinot Noir Chardonnay 2018 took out the top gong for Sparkling Wine of the Year.
We love that the winner of the Best Value Winery was also from Victoria: Mulline in Geelong.
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“We’re blown away by the quality of this year’s winners and tonight we celebrate the strength and perseverance of the Australian wine industry with winners representing regions from across the country,” said Katrina Butler, Halliday's head of tasting.
Some fun facts from the 2025 awards:
- Victorian wineries also won awards for Fortified Wine of the Year, Pinot Gris/Grigio of the Year and Rosé of the Year.
- The Barossa Valley led the pack with the most five-star wineries in the 2025 Wine Companion.
- Chardonnay was the most popular white wine, with 34 per cent of the submissions.
- Shiraz/Syrah and blends were the stars of the red wine category, making up 37 per cent of all entries.
- Chenin Blanc took the top spot for Other Whites and Blends for the second year in a row, showing its growing popularity in Australia.
- Riesling continued to shine as Australia’s best-value grape, with 59 per cent of entries earning the special value rosette from the 2025 Wine Companion.
- 61 new wineries made their debut in the 2025 edition.
The 2025 Halliday Wine Companion is available in stores nationally from August 8. The 2025 edition includes more than 5,000 tasting notes and scores, with more than 7,500 new notes available online here.