2022 HALLIDAY WINE COMPANION AWARDS

WORDS: PHOTOGRAPHY

BEST OF THE BEST ANNOUNCED AT INDUSTRY NIGHT OF NIGHTS VIA ONLINE BROADCAST

This evening, the highly anticipated 2022 Halliday Wine Companion Awards returned in an online broadcast, pivoting away from a physical event at the last minute due to the unfolding COVID-19 situation in Melbourne. The festivities provided wine enthusiasts the opportunity to be part of the beloved awards and allowed those barred by recent lockdowns, including winning wineries and winemakers, the ability to celebrate virtually.

Halliday Wine Companion Chief Editor Tyson Stelzer, and James Halliday AM announced the victors of the major awards and varietal categories throughout the forty-five minute online broadcast. Wine-loving viewers from across Australia and the globe tuned in to learn the deserving winemakers, viticulturists, wineries and wines honoured as the 2022 award recipients.

This year, the Halliday Wine Companion tasting panel was comprised of regional specialists across five states, with the team expanding to seven. For the first time, the awards were judged collaboratively by the entire tasting team, coming together in Victoria in March to review the shortlist produced from over 9,000 Australian wines. The tasting panel was more proactive than ever and set a record with 60% more new wineries reviewed for this edition than the previous year.

To the delight of industry professionals, this year also saw the inaugural Viticulturist of the Year announced, taking the major awards to a total of seven categories, alongside nineteen varietal winners, including a new format for the Sparkling category, and one award so hotly contested that three winners for the same varietal were announced.

The awards were a celebration of Australian wine following a challenging year. The night shone a well-deserved light on wineries and industry professionals who, despite unprecedented times, have demonstrated courage, passion and determination that continues to strengthen the proud Australian wine industry.

The awards also mark the release of the wine-enthusiast’s bible, the 2022 Halliday Wine Companion, available in all good bookstores from tomorrow, Friday 13th August. The book is a comprehensive guide to Australia’s leading wines, wineries, grape growing regions and includes all awards winners and over 3,200 tasting notes. A full list of more than 9,100 tasting notes is available online at www.winecompanion.com – the third-largest number of reviewed wines in the 36-year history of the Halliday Wine Companion. A selection of this year’s award-winning wines will be available to purchase via online wine retailers Vinomofo and United Cellars from Friday, 13th August.

The best of the best, identified by the Halliday Wine Companion tasting panel, hail from regions far and wide, spanning from Western Australia to Tasmania. This year’s major awards represent regions including: Yarra Valley (2), Macedon Ranges (2), Central Ranges, Langhorne Creek and Margaret River, and the varietal winners include; Tasmania (2), Hunter Valley (2), Adelaide Hills (3), Clare Valley, McLaren Vale (3), Yarra Valley (3), Margaret River and Barossa Valley.

2022 AWARD WINNERS
Winery of the Year – Yarra Yering, Yarra Valley, VIC

Wine of the Year –2019 Dry Red No. 1, Yarra Yering, Yarra Valley, VIC

Winemaker of the Year – Michael Dhillon – Bindi Wines, Macedon Ranges, VIC

Best New Winery – Place of Changing Winds, Macedon Ranges, VIC

Dark Horse – Renzaglia Wines, Central Ranges, NSW

Best Value Winery – Lake Breeze, Langhorne Creek, SA

Viticulturist of the Year – Vanya Cullen, Cullen Wines, Margaret River, WA

2022 VARIETAL WINNERS
Sparkling of the Year – Deviation Road Beltana Blanc de Blancs 2014 – 97 points
White Wine of the Year – Penfolds Yattarna Bin 144 Chardonnay 2018 – 99 points
Red Wine of the Year – Yarra Yering Dry Red No. 1 2019 – 98 points
Sparkling White of the Year – Deviation Road Beltana Blanc de Blancs 2014 – 97 pointsSparkling Rosé of the Year – Bellebonne Natalie Fryar Vintage Rosé 2017 – 96 points
Sparkling Red of the Year – Ashton Hills Sparkling Shiraz 2015 – 95 points
Riesling of the Year – Pooley Margaret Pooley Tribute Single Vineyard Riesling 2020 – 97 points
Chardonnay of the Year (3 winners) – Oakridge 864 Drive Block Funder & Diamond Vineyard Chardonnay 2019 – 97 points
Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay 2018 – 98 points
Penfolds Yattarna Bin 144 Chardonnay 2018 – 99 points
Semillon of the Year – Meerea Park Alexander Munro Individual Vineyard Aged Release Semillon 2011 – 96 points
Sauvignon Blanc of the Year – Terre à Terre Crayeres Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc 2019 – 96 points
Other White of the Year – Coriole Rubato Reserve Fiano 2020 – 96 points
Rosé of the Year – La Prova Nebbiolo Rosato 2020 – 95 points
Pinot Noir of the Year – Bindi Block 5 Pinot Noir 2019 – 97 points
Grenache of the Year – Thistledown Sands of Time Old Vine Single Vineyard Blewitt Springs Grenache 2019 – 97 points
Shiraz of the Year – Tyrrell’s 4 Acres Shiraz 2019 – 97 points
Cabernet Shiraz of the Year – Yalumba The Caley Cabernet Shiraz 2016 – 99 points
Cabernet Sauvignon of the Year – Yarra Yering Carrodus Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 – 98 points
Cabernet and Family of the Year – Yarra Yering Dry Red No. 1 2019 – 98 points
Other Red of the Year – SC Pannell Aglianico 2019 – 95 points
Fortified of the Year – Seppeltsfield 100 Year Old Para Vintage Tawny 1921 – 99 points
@winecompanion @hardiegrantbooks #Halliday2022

HALLIDAY WINE COMPANION BOOK:
The 2022 Halliday Wine Companion features full tasting notes for 3,280 wines, as well as ratings, drink-to-dates and prices for a further 5,352 wines from 1,252 wineries (including 77 new to the Companion).

The book provides an overview of the best of the best wines by variety, top wineries by region, varietal wine styles and regions, vintage charts and an overview of vintage 2021.

Published by Hardie Grant Books, the 2022 Halliday Wine Companion is now available nationwide at an RRP of $39.95 with information pertaining to the awards hosted on the Wine Companion website, winecompanion.com

About Tyson Stelzer

Tyson Stelzer fell in love with wine more than 20 years ago between the pages of James Halliday’s Australia & New Zealand Wine Companion
2000. He is now a multi-award- winning wine writer, TV host and producer, and international speaker. He was named The International Wine
& Spirit Competition Communicator of the Year in 2015, The Australian Wine Communicator of the Year in 2015 and 2013, and The
International Champagne Writer of the Year in 2011. Tyson is the author of 17 wine books, including six editions of The Champagne Guide, and
a contributor to Jancis Robinson’s The Oxford Companion to Wine (3rd edition), and regularly writes for many wine magazines. As an
international speaker, Tyson has presented at wine events in 12 countries, and is also a regular judge and chair of wine shows throughout
Australia. Tyson also hosts intimate Champagne tours.

About Halliday Wine Companion
For more than 30 years, Halliday Wine Companion has been the most comprehensive wine authority, with more than 150,000 tasting notes
and 3,600 winery reviews from James Halliday AM and the Halliday Wine Companion tasting panel, and publications spanning the bi-monthly
Halliday magazine, the annual Wine Companion guide, the Wine Encyclopaedia and the Wine Atlas, as well as Halliday Events.
www.winecompanion.com.au

About Halliday Wine Companion Awards
Every year, the Halliday Wine Companion tasting panel pinpoint the best Australian wines, winemakers, viticulturists and wineries from a pool
of several thousand featured in the annual Halliday Wine Companion guide. Tyson, James and the tasting panel made up of Ned Goodwin MW,
Jane Faulkner, Tony Love, Erin Larkin and Jeni Port cherry-pick the high performers from a range of criteria to offer a true representation of
the nation’s greatest names in wine. The awards is one of the most anticipated events on the Australian drinks calendar, with industry
personalities, media, reviewers, retailers, sommeliers and wine lovers tuning in, or meeting in Melbourne for the ceremony each year.