Team Talk: The Halliday Tasting Team share their highlights from the 2026 Companion tasting cycle

Over the past year, the Halliday Tasting Team collectively tasted over 7000 wines from regions across Australia. Of those, around 5000 were published in the 2026 Halliday Wine Companion, and the top 165 were called in for the 2026 Halliday Awards judging. 

At the judging, held in late March at Re’em at Helen & Joey Estate in the Yarra Valley, the top wines were tasted and scored blind by the Tasting Team as a group to determine the varietal category winners, as well as Red, White and overall Wine of the Year. 

Unanimously agreed by everyone at Halliday to be the best judging event so far, thanks to the incredible facilities and hospitality shown to us by the staff at Re’em, as well as the results themselves which yielded winners from all corners of Australia, from producers new and established. 

Below, the Tasting Team share their highlights and takeaways from the 2026 Companion and the year of tastings that led up to it. 

The Halliday Tasting Team at the Awards judging held at Helen & Joey Estate.

Jeni Port

It has long been obvious, well, obvious to some, that where shiraz grows well, the rest of the Rhône Valley family of grapes usually also grow well. This year, we saw the Rhône connection possibly the strongest it has ever been. In fact, it was celebrated and recognised as a real strength, especially in Victoria. Producers rushed headlong into grenache, stuck by shiraz, got excited again by viognier and marsanne (yay!), got even more excited about roussanne, ventured down the Rhône road less travelled exploring grenache blanc, carignan and, finally, let mourvèdre stand alone and proud by itself. I looked at the quality of Rhône varieties being made by producers like Tellurian, Warner Vineyard, Giaconda, Wild Duck, SubRosa, Jones Winery & Vineyard, Monak Wine Co. and stalwarts Tahbilk, All Saints and Mitchelton and got goose bumps. 

Shanteh Wale 

My key takeaway from this year’s judging process is that the results spoke with remarkable clarity. A harmonious consensus emerged across nearly all brackets – a true testament to the strength and calibre of the wines presented. There was a palpable silence as the winners were revealed, followed by quiet nods of agreement; that unspoken acknowledgment was something to behold. As always, I am deeply honoured to taste and experience wines of undeniable quality, precision and soul, brought forward by the team with unwavering care and conviction. 

Toni Paterson MW 

This year's Awards judging showcased a fabulous mix of classic and contemporary styles. It was terrific to witness high-quality, confident, and, at times, daring winemaking, resulting in wines that were captivating and deeply satisfying. In the whites, we saw more wines with texture and layers, while in the reds, we saw more with energy, intensity, and vitality. The wines which stood tall had true strength of character, with their individuality setting them apart. The supreme quality of Australian grape growing and winemaking was on display, and the continual evolution of style was thrilling to see. 

The Halliday Tasting Team at the 2026 Halliday Awards night.

Dave Brookes

There was a lot to glean from this year's tasting cycle. There were trends that, thankfully, continued – percussive oak use declined with an emphasis on purity of fruit and expression of site; alcohol levels continued to moderate; and faulty wines were few and far between. I saw a slight increase in natural and technical cork use and a decrease in those meaninglessly heavy bottles that gladdened my heart. The final judging process was a highlight with the entire Tasting Team putting forward a diverse and delicious range of wines and a ‘wild card’ class full of transparent and easy-drinking styles. So much to like!   

Jane Faulkner  

Several themes shone through from the regions I review, and largely, during the judging for this year’s Awards, including the level of detail and distinction our finest producers are achieving. While the Australian wine industry has weathered some tough vintages, over-supply at the lower end and a really, really tough market, which is a few years away from coming good again, the counterpoint to all that is that in the last year I’ve tasted the most compelling, exacting, beautiful and delicious wines to date, filling me with joy and positivity. Bravo and thank you.

Katrina Butler 

After another magnificent year of tasting, the key takeaways for me were around the delicious and savoury expressions of Italian whites. We had more submissions of fiano and vermentino than ever before, with winemakers starting to shake off the grapes' overtly fruity characters in favour of more texture and refreshment, some with a thirst-slaking, saline edge. Aside from the many other varietal victories (ahem, grenache), the annual 2026 Companion judging was a victory in itself. From 165 wines, the very best of the year's tasting, the winners emerged easily and clearly. And that they just so happened to exhibit a diverse array of Australian wine regions was the icing on the cake. 

Marcus Ellis at the Awards judging.

Marcus Ellis  

One of the key features of the wines I tasted for the 2026 Wine Companion was the strength of varieties outside the foundational canon. We’re no strangers to Italian, Iberian, ‘other’ French and even Georgian grapes, but the elaboration into wines of thrilling individuality and character is something to get excited about. It illustrates not just a passionate investment in these varieties, but a real understanding of how to gently handle them to make wines that may echo their origins but more resoundingly speak of their new home. More broadly, I was once again impressed by the nuanced winemaking and lack of subscription to trends. While there are challenges in the industry, the quality, variety and authenticity of Australian wine has never been better. 

Mike Bennie 

Key to this year’s cycle of tastings, including the final judging, was diversity. Not just in the rise-and-rise of lesser sung varieties, this we know, but in the variation of tried and tested varieties flexing a greater bandwidth of styles. From my charter of regions, riesling, for example, has presented with more distinction, from the expected, skeletal and racy styles, as is tradition for most wine producers, to a groundswell of producers eking out texture through low-key skin contact (a day or two, let’s say), and those seeking complexity from lees contact, time in oak or alternative vessels, and a lean into the nuances available from wild fermentation.

This kind of approach, pushing boundaries perhaps, seems to be rewarding, and applicable to a host of varieties where confident winemakers see the benefit of such character in chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, pinot noir, shiraz and grenache, also as examples. Alongside this, a shout out to Granite Belt, the little region that could; here the myriad of grape varieties plays host to some of the most compelling tasting I do all year. Quality levels are on the rise, coinciding with a confidence in producing wines that celebrate the potential of less familiar grape varieties as a calling card. 

Philip Rich 

This was my fourth Awards judging and my main takeaway from what I believe is a superb set of results is that while times might be tough for producers, Australia collectively has never made better wine. I love too that without knowing what the wines were, we spread the love around. Literally every state had major Award winners, and it’s also exciting that among those winners are wines I've never tasted before, such as the brilliant tripe.Iscariot Kroos Chenin Blanc from Margaret River. At the pointy end of the Awards, from riesling and chardonnay to pinot noir, grenache, shiraz and cabernet, these are all world-class wines whose prices look more than competitive on a global scale. 

This article first appeared in issue #80 of Halliday magazine. Become a member to receive all four issues per year, digital access to more than 185,000 tasting notes from 4000 producers, and much more. 

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