Mulline Vintners win ‘Best Value Winery’ in 2025 Halliday Wine Companion Awards

It’s official — this regional Victorian winery famous for its $30 drops has been named the best value in the country.

A wine-obsessed Geelong couple is behind Australia’s best-value winery.

Mulline Vintners was named the country’s Best Value Winery for its range of $30 pearlers at the prestigious 2025 Halliday Wine Companion Awards, held in Melbourne on Wednesday night.

A swath of local wineries have dominated this year’s awards — with three winning major gongs and half of the category prizes awarded to Victorians.

Yarra Valley’s Giant Steps won Winery of the Year, while Wine of the Year went to Oakridge’s 2022 top-tier chardonnay.

Winemaker Ben Mullen, along with life and business partner Ben Hine, never imagined to win so early in their winery’s career.

“Our first vintage was 2019, so for us this is really cool. It’s a huge surprise,” Mullen said.

“Value has always been pretty important to the consumer, especially for how expensive things are at the moment.”

Mulline has two price points — a $30 regional range which includes syrah, sauvignon, pinot noir, pinot gris and rose, as well as a $60 single vineyard range, plucked from the estates’ eight Moorabool Valley vineyards.

“2024 was a distinct vintage. It was much of a hard and fast vintage. The whites are aromatic, perfumed with a nice acidity,” he said.

Mullen said producing “affordable” wines wasn’t always easy.

“It’s 100 per cent dependent on the vineyards or where we are sourcing the grapes from,” he said.

“Lighter glass bottles are cheaper to make and purchase, so that helps. Production can also affect the price. Plus Geelong’s land prices are very expensive, especially coming into 2020.”

Halliday Wine Companion Head of Tasting Katrina Butler said the judging panel was impressed by the calibre of this year’s entrants.

“We’re blown away by the quality of this year’s winners,” she said.

More than 7500 wines were sampled for this year’s competition.

All winners were revealed in a lavish ceremony at Melbourne’s The Ormond Collective on Wednesday night.

Originally published as Mulline Vintners win ‘Best Value Winery’ in 2025 Halliday Wine Companion Awards