Halliday Wine Companion 2025 Results

The 2025 Halliday Wine Companion was released last night, and we are thrilled to announce that we have received some wonderful scores and reviews, as well as being included in a number of ‘Halliday Top Rated’ lists.

We are also pleased to report that Dalwhinnie, Deep Woods Estate and Evans & Tate received Top Five Red Star Winery ratings and Lowestoft received a Five Black Star Winery rating.

Millbrook Winery was also voted at number 6 in the Halliday People’s Choice Award for best winery experience.

Not only that but our Tasmanian Chief Winemaker Liam McElhinney was shortlisted for the 2025 Halliday Winemaker of the Year!

A Five Red Star rating indicates an 'outstanding winery regularly producing wines of exemplary quality and typicity. Will have at least two wines rated at 95 points or above, and has held a 5-star rating for the previous three years (i.e. 4 years in total at 5 stars). Where the winery name itself is printed in red, it is a winery with a long track record of excellence, having held a 5-star rating continuously for 10 years – truly the best of the best. (Formerly a winery generally acknowledged to have had a long track record of excellence in the context of its region.)'

A Black Five Star rating indicates an 'outstanding winery capable of producing wines of very high quality, and did so this year. Will have at least two wines rated at 95 points or higher.'

Please see below all scores and reviews for Fogarty Wine Group wines rated 90 points and above. 

2022 Lowestoft La Maison Pinot Noir (sold out)

• 98 Points, Dave Brookes
• Featured in the ‘Halliday Top Rated: Pinot Noir’, equal highest score to Pinot Noir of the Year
• Boom! You'll probably have to scurry around to secure some bottles of this, as it won the coveted Jimmy Watson Trophy at the 2023 Melbourne Royal Wine Awards, but it is worth the hunt. It's a beautiful wine with a brilliant ruby hue in the glass and aromas of ripe dark cherry, dried cranberry and raspberry coulis underlined by hints of souk-like spice, amaro herbs from the whole-bunch component, pomegranate, tea leaves, char siu, dried citrus rind, sage and Peking duck. Wonderfully composed and silken on the palate with pitch-perfect fruit expression and bunch tannins; textural and complex with a lacy, mineral acid cadence and a finish that lingers for a long time with exotic spice and pure red and dark fruits. Such a beauty.

2021 Dalwhinnie Moonambel Cabernet Sauvignon

• 97 Points, Toni Paterson
• Featured in the ‘Halliday Top Rated: Cabernet Sauvignon’
• The palate is outstanding, with plentiful dark, concentrated fruit that is focused and defined, held in a structural tannin frame and accented with dried marjoram. Expert viticulture has achieved ripeness, depth and impressive varietal character, and skilful, respectful winemaking allows the estate's signature cassis fruit to shine. Cellar-worthy.

2020 Dalwhinnie The Eagle Shiraz

• 97 Points, James Halliday
• Featured in the ‘Halliday Top Rated: Shiraz’
• A single site, first planted in 1977, one of the oldest and finest blocks on the Dalwhinnie vineyard. Only made in small quantities in outstanding vintages. This is right up there, the savoury/spicy/earthy palate is caressed by perfectly handled tannins and restrained oak.

2021 Dalwhinnie The Pinnacle Shiraz

• 97 Points, Toni Paterson
• Featured in the ‘Halliday Top Rated: Shiraz’
• From the prized '21 vintage and sourced from the highest, steepest vineyard on the estate, this wine has impressive purity, fragrance, intensity and length. There's a mix of red and dark berry fruit accented by fresh bay leaves and faint smoky oak. The structure is classical in nature, giving the wine a stylish flow.

2022 Lowestoft Single Vineyard Glengarry Pinot Noir

• 97 Points, Dave Brookes
• Featured in the ‘Halliday Top Rated: Pinot Noir’
• An airy ruby in the glass. There's great detail and clarity in this wine. A translucent curtain of raspberry, red cherry and cranberry fruits offers glimpses of other characters behind. Souk-like spice and amaro herbs, wildflowers, Chinese barbecue tones, ginger tea, softly spoken oak, pomegranate, mushroom broth and gamey meats. It shows a wonderful sense of space and composure with lacy, mineral acidity providing luminescence, form and cadence, gliding savoury and true to its destination.

2022 Dalwhinnie Moonambel Chardonnay

• 96 Points, Toni Paterson
• A rounded, textured, layered chardonnay that has excellent integration of the fruit and winemaking elements. Alluring flecks of Geraldton wax and crème caramel decorate the concentrated core of green apples, ripe lemon and quince. Mineral acidity defines and focuses the palate. The wine has seamless flow and impressive back-palate persistence. The more air it has, the better it gets. A benchmark style for the region.

2021 Dalwhinnie Moonambel Shiraz

• 96 Points, Toni Paterson
• The fine tailoring of this wine is evident from the first glance, with no thread out of place. Immensely fragrant mulberry aromas are enhanced by subtle smoky oak. Piercing red fruits, spun sugar and cherry pie flavours present harmoniously, slipping through the palate with a satin-like flow. Medium bodied, detailed and immensely enjoyable, now or in the future.

2022 Deep Woods Estate Reserve Chardonnay

• 96 Points, James Halliday
• Sourced from the best grapes, handpicked, whole-bunch pressed, fermented in new and used French oak; only the best barrels are chosen for this wine. This is a beautiful Chardonnay offering complexity and length to its white peach core.

2021 Evans & Tate Redbrook Reserve Chardonnay

• 96 Points, Jane Faulkner
• A wine that ebbs and flows; one minute, lots of flavour, all citrus, spice and stone fruit, then the next, pared back, revealing a tight acid backbone and a slip of creamy lees. Then again, flinty, fine, and next, a shot of oak, superbly integrated. Everything comes together; the result is a rather stunning Chardonnay.

2022 Lowestoft Chardonnay

• 96 Points, Dave Brookes
• Pale straw with detailed aromas of white peach, nectarine and grapefruit. Hints of fine spice, grilled cashews, struck flint, clotted cream, oatmeal, white flowers, vanillin oak and stone. There's a wonderful clarity to this wine. You can, should you so desire, sit there and delineate all the individual components: lemon curd and a myriad of other tones. Or you can be happy that it is just so delicious, with scintillating minerally precision and drive, finishing dry, long, grapefruity and creamy. A great release and one of concentration and focus.

2022 Dalwhinnie LDR Shiraz

• 95 Points, Toni Paterson
• Abyss-like depth with a sturdy casing of fine tannin. Dark chocolate, rosewater, dried cherries, cloves and red liquorice present on the mid-palate in a supple, velvety way. There is a touch of charcuterie on opening, though this blows off with aeration. It is an admirable wine with contemporary styling, though it needs unpacking, so put a small volume in a large glass and enjoy watching it evolve.

2023 Deep Woods Estate Rosé (sold out)

• 95 Points, Jane Faulkner
• Featured in the ‘Halliday Top Rated: Rosé’
• Bring 69/20/11% Sangiovese/Merlot/Tempranillo into the mix, and the result is a Rosé that’s a pastel pink blush dressed in fine acidity with flavour and a shapely palate. Plenty of tangy red-accented fruits from strawberries to redcurrants all spiced up. A lovely, slippery texture with fine acidity driving this long. Excellent rosé in anyone’s book.

2022 Deep Woods Estate Single Vineyard Cabernet Malbec

• 95 Points, Jane Faulkner
• It starts with an intense dark purple hue followed by a wonderful fragrance of florals, cardamom and turmeric. The full-bodied palate has many layers, a richness of dark fruit, lots of oak spices plus a wave of tannins. Very good now but better in another year or two.

2023 Deep Woods Estate Single Vineyard Chardonnay

• 95 Points, Jane Faulkner
• Oh yeah, I could sit back at lunch and enjoy this and then at dinner, too. It’s an all-rounder. Still nervy from youth but so moreish and savoury with dabs of white stone fruit, citrus and spice with judicious oak and creamy, nutty lees. Latent power here and will evolve beautifully with more time in bottle.

2020 Evans & Tate Redbrook Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon

• 95 Points, Jane Faulkner
• A commanding wine that’s built with ample tannins, a structured full-bodied palate and little wriggle room in this youthful stage. There’s plenty of flavour, all cassis, mulberries, charry oak, fresh herbs and a dusting of warm spices. It’s very good but another year or so in bottle will allow this to loosen up.

2021 Evans & Tate Single Vineyard Chardonnay

• 95 Points, Campbell Mattinson
• There's no doubting this wine's quality; it strikes you from the first sip. It tastes of sweet pears, nectarine, peach and grapefruit and feels intense and joyous from start to finish. Smoky, bacon-y oak plays a keen-but-supporting role, acidity is juicy and well flavoured, and the finish is sustained. In short, it's lovely.

2022 Lowestoft Single Vineyard Jacoben Pinot Noir

• 95 Points, Dave Brookes
• Vibrant ruby with aromas of exotically-spiced red cherry, raspberry and red plum fruits. Hints of dried mountain herbs, citrus blossom, char siu, sandalwood, dried cranberry, amaro, undergrowth and Peking duck. Lithe and sapid on the palate with a touch of sour cherry, pillowy tannins and a spicy, complex finish that flows on for a pleasing amount of time.

2022 Lowestoft Pinot Noir

• 95 Points, Dave Brookes
• I remember a winemaker friend telling me to keep an eye on these guys a while back. In recent years, Lowestoft has become one of the high flyers on the Tassie wine scene. I owe that man a beer. This beautifully made wine is sourced from the Fogarty Group's vineyards in the state. Pure red cherry and berry fruits, spice laden, complex and composed, the 2022 release impresses with its seamless extended finish and length of flavour.

2021 Evans & Tate Redbrook Estate Chardonnay

• 94 Points, Jane Faulkner
• Flinty, a little funky and a whole lot of deliciousness with this fine-boned wine. It’s linear, with the merest hint of white stone fruit, grapefruit, spicy cedary oak and lots of savouriness. Moreish with mouth-watering acidity, still tight and will be more complex in time.

2021 Millbrook Estate Shiraz Viognier

• 94 Points, Campbell Mattinson
• Beefy fruit flavour with a silken, seductive edge. Flavours of fresh and scorched plums, black cherries, fennel and cloves glide through into mint, purple flowers and bacon. It has savouriness, it has (bold) fruitiness, and it has an all-over toasty character. It's a dry red wine with crowd-pleaser written all over it.

NV Millbrook Limited Release Pedro Ximenez

• 94 Points, Campbell Mattinson
• This plays as much to its bass notes as to its treble, the flavours dark and somewhat brooding, all meant in a positive sense. It tastes of tea leaves and toffee, roasted nuts and an assortment of dried fruits, the finish lingering appreciably.

2020 Smithbrook Single Vineyard Nebbiolo (sold out)

• 94 Points, Campbell Mattinson
• Excellent quality, excellent value. This is a Nebbiolo worth tracking down. It tastes of black liquorice and red cherries, menthol and tobacco, and while it's dry and tannic to close it's juicy and moreish through the palate. You could ask for little more.

2022 Dalwhinnie Three Valleys Pinot Noir

• 93 Points, Dave Brookes
• Fragrant with nicely defined red cherry and red plum fruits, hints of five-spice, ginger tea, pomegranate, vanillin oak, Peking duck, star anise and leaf litter. These characters transpose directly to the palate, which has a silken flow, some fried herbs coming in to join the spiced cherry fruits on the exit.

2023 Deep Woods Estate Harmony Rose

• 93 Points, Jane Faulkner
• An enticing pale pastel pink with a floral lift, lightly spiced and fruited with raspberries and strawberries. The palate is ultra-refreshing with zest and lemony acidity, yet there’s some texture, and this finishes dry.

2022 Evans & Tate Single Vineyard Malbec

• 93 Points, Jane Faulkner
• Ah, the glorious colour of Malbec – dark purple with a spark of red. This is very good, rich and firmly tannic yet a core of excellent fruit all spiced up, dark plums infused with Middle Eastern spices, pomegranate molasses and raspberry acidity. It’s youthful so match to food to enjoy now or pop it away for a year or so.

2022 Deep Woods Estate Cabernet Merlot

• 92 Points, Jane Faulkner
• A gorgeous, enticing dark purple shot with red; redolent with cassis, mulberries plus lots of warming spices and cedary oak too. Soft and giving with a light spray of tannins and acid. It’s ready now, not complex yet delicious and keenly priced.  

2021 Deep Woods Estate Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon

• 92 Points, Jane Faulkner
• An excellent bright, dark garnet hue and plenty of fruit to the fore from mulberries and blackberries with kirsch and roasted tomatoes, too. A hint of mint and spicy oak adds sweetness across the medium-bodied palate, a little sinewy although there’s a flavour of roasted coffee beans dipped in dark chocolate. A certain elegance to this, and time will help it unfurl.

2021 Evans & Tate Redbrook Estate Cabernet Merlot

• 92 Points, Jane Faulkner
• A vibrant dark garnet-purple hue with atypical aromas and flavours so expect blackberries, mulberries and cassis dressed up with baking spices, fresh herbs and cedary oak. Lots of primary fruit across the fuller-bodied palate, no surprise given its youth with refreshing acidity and plentiful tannins, which have a slight bitter green walnut flavour and drying sensation pinching the finish.

2022 Sandy Bay Estate Pinot Noir

• 92 Points, Dave Brookes
• A pretty smelling wine. Bright ruby in the glass with aromas of red cherry, raspberry and wild strawberry fruits. Hints of fine spice, Chinese barbecue shop, purple flowers, vanillin oak, red liquorice, dried herbs and earth. Some sour cherry sweeping in on the palate, which finishes savoury and sapid with some pleasing briny minerality to the seam of acidity.

2023 Deep Woods Estate Sauvignon Blanc

• 91 Points, Jane Faulkner
• It oscillates between showy and bright with varietal flavours of snow peas, lemon balm, lemon-lime juice and passionfruit pith. A neat slip of texture with some creamy lees and slightly sticky phenolics, making this a wine best enjoyed with food.

2023 Millbrook Regional Chenin Blanc

• 91 Points, Mike Bennie
• Fresh and fruity number here. Bright citrus fruit scents with some citrus floral elements, red apple, whiffs of warm slate in the mix. Good concentration of flavour, very limey but cut with minty herbal elements, green almond, more red apple (crunchiness included) with a touch of lemon sorbet through the finish. Very lively, easy drinking, quietly complex and engaging.

2022 Strelley Farm Estate Pinot Noir

• 91 Points, Dave Brookes
• Fresh, attractive varietal flavour with spice notes inlaid and high drinkability all-around. If you have an itch to drink Pinot Noir, this scratches it pretty well. It offers sweet-sour cherry flavours, cedar-smoked oak, a touch of mint and a flash of undergrowth. It feels shy/abbreviated on the finish when it's first opened, but given a little time to breathe, it extends nicely.

2022 Deep Woods Estate Hillside Cabernet Sauvignon

• 90 Points, Jane Faulkner
• Punches above its weight at this price point. A solid combo of cassis, sweet mulberries, wood spices, menthol and turmeric working across a fuller-bodied palate. Ripe, fleshy tannins and cleansing acidity seal the deal. Nice one.

2022 Deep Woods Estate Reserve Shiraz

• 90 Points, Jane Faulkner
• It sits precariously on the edge of being a tad too ripe, so it is full bodied, rich and dense as a result. There’s freshness within, with dark fruit and baking spices, a touch of fruitcake and lots of cedary, charry oak. Lovely plump tannins, finishing with some alcohol warmth; better with food.

2022 Evans & Tate Redbrook Estate Shiraz

• 90 Points, Jane Faulkner
• Somewhat brawny with lots of sweet yet charry oak hanging around. Richly fruited, laden with spices and densely packed tannins and puckering acidity, all that means is this will improve with a few years under its belt and change the outcome.

2023 Millbrook Regional Fiano

• 90 Points, Jane Faulkner
• Fiano is a highly adaptable variety but also a very classy one. This offering plays it safe, showcasing varietal flavours of stone fruit, lemon balm and ginger spice. An attractive slippery texture thanks to a pull of phenolics is then all tidied by refreshing acidity. A simple, pleasant rendition yet more depth and complexity would be welcomed.

2023 Millbrook Regional Rose

• 90 Points, Jane Faulkner
• An attractive pale dusty pink, a little estery with cherry-berry and peppermint flavours. There’s a smidge of texture, a burst of sweet red berries across the palate and enough acidity to rein it all in.

2021 Smithbrook Single Vineyard Merlot

• 90 Points, Mike Bennie
• Mellow merlot, supple and soft, plush and round, lots of dark cherry, black olive, stewed rhubarb and roast beetroot elements with dashes of black pepper and clove chiming in. It rolls around the palate well, gently staining things as it trails away, with good structure in its web of silty tannin, and a fine, decent and woody spice-laced finish. It's Merlot 101, done well.

A huge congratulations to all of our winery and viticultural teams on these fantastic reviews.

Shop all of our 2025 Halliday Wine Companion rated wines online here.