97 Points in the Halliday Wine Companion 2025
97-, 96- and 95 Point & Top Rated Wines
We have received some incredible reviews and scores in the 2025 Halliday Wine Companion, including 97 points for our 2020 The Eagle Shiraz, 2021 The Pinnacle Shiraz and 2021 Moonambel Cabernet Sauvignon.
These wines were featured in the 'Halliday Top Rated: Shiraz' and 'Halliday Top Rated: Cabernet Sauvignon' lists.
Speaking on the 'Halliday Top Rated: Cabernet Sauvignon', the tasting team said: "This category was as strong or stronger than ever; the Australian Cabernet larder is full of flavoursome, elegant, impeccably structured wines. At the very top end of our judging, the best wines were essentially impossible to split."
On the 'Halliday Top Rated: Shiraz', the team said: "Shiraz is arguably the hardest category for us to judge. Not on a wine-by-wine basis – that’s the easy bit. But sitting down at our annual awards judging and ranking them; that’s difficult. The quality is uniformly high, but the styles are more diverse than in any other category. This of course is an overwhelming positive for the landscape of Australian wine. We make great Shiraz, but we’re not a one-trick pony. Name your style, mood or food preference and the below list has you well and truly covered."
We also received 96 points for our 2021 Moonambel Shiraz and 2022 Moonambel Chardonnay, while our 2022 LDR Shiraz was awarded 95 points.
Halliday Top Five Red Star Rating
We are also pleased to report that we received a Top Five Red Star Winery rating.
This 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.)'
About the Halliday Wine Companion
Each year, the Halliday tasting panel tastes through thousands of wines from across the country. For over three decades, the Halliday Wine Companion, founded by James Halliday, has served as a trusted benchmark for quality in the wine industry. Wines rated between 97 and 99 are considered exceptional, while those scoring 95-96 are deemed outstanding.
Our Reviews
You can read all 2025 Halliday Wine Companion reviews below:
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 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.
- 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.
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.
A huge congratulations to all of our Chief Winemaker Julian Langworthy, Viticulturist Sam Bartlett and the whole Dalwhinnie team on these fantastic reviews.
Shop all of our 2025 Halliday Wine Companion rated wines online here.