Sue Hodder makes James Halliday Hall of Fame and Sami-Odi named Best New Winery
Cheers to SA’s winners in the 2025 Halliday Wine Companion Awards. Among them is a name every Australian wine lover will recognise and an “if you know, you know” cult winery.
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One of the nation’s best-known winemakers and a cult winery are among the SA winners at the prestigious 2025 Halliday Wine Companion Awards held in Melbourne.
Renowned chief winemaker Sue Hodder, who has been working at Wynns Coonawarra Estate for more than 30 years, has been inducted into the James Halliday Hall of Fame: Australian Wine Industry.
One of the Barossa Valley’s best-kept secrets, Sami-Odi, has been named Best New Winery.
While Sami-Odi was founded by sommelier-turned-winemaker Fraser McKinley and his wife Andrea in 2006, the small winery qualified for the award because the category “represents exciting additions either to the Australian wine landscape, to Halliday Wine Companion, or both”
New Zealand-born McKinley doesn’t make typical Barossa wines. With a cult following, Sami-Odi specialises in Syrah.
Picked earlier, frequently in February, grapes are sourced from small plots of vines, cultivated using organic principles. The wines are made from whole bunches, with only a pinch of sulphur and presented in what look like old-school brandy bottles with labels that he and Andrea design.
South Australia also won varietal categories.
Rieslingfreak No. 12 Riesling 2023 was Riesling of the Year with 98 points.
Terre à Terre Crayères Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc 2023 won the Sauvignon Blanc category with 97 points.
The Other Whites & Blends award went to MMAD Vineyard Blewitt Springs Chenin Blanc 2022 with 97 points and Thistledown Wines This Charming Man Single Vineyard Clarendon Grenache 2023 won the Grenache & Blends category with 98 points.
Barossa Valley’s Gibson Wines won the People’s Choice award.
The Barossa Valley can also boast having the most 5-star wineries in the 2025 Halliday Wine Companion, which is on sale now.
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