Australia’s best white wines under $30
One varietal above all others is offering the best value wine in today’s market. Find out which, and discover 20 of the tastiest budget drops James Halliday has judged in 2023.
Riesling, riesling, riesling. This year, eight bottles of riesling represent the best value offerings in the Australian wine market. From Coonawarra to Margaret River and into Victoria, winemakers have squeezed every drop of quality into these outstanding local offerings.
Elsewhere, discover a delicious Hunter Valley semillon and experience two exquisite and affordable chardonnays alongside a host of somewhat more obscure varietals that allow the drinker to take a little adventure, no matter what their budget …
HALLIDAY'S TOP 100
Drink like James Halliday with this offer
The Australian Wine Club is offering a mixed dozen from James Halliday’s Top 100 - including a 99-point sensation - for $27.99 a bottle. Find out more.
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Top 20 white wines over $30
Discover a 99-point Margaret River blend with perfect balance, two delicious Hunter Valley 2017 semillons and an irresistible Clare Valley riesling. These are Halliday’s top picks of 2023.
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Australia’s best white wines … and they’re all under $30
One varietal above all others is offering the best value wine in today’s market. Find out which, and discover 20 of the tastiest budget drops James Halliday has judged in 2023.
Best Australian red wines under $40
Australia’s premier wine critic James Halliday has selected the very best value Australian red wines on the market – and it includes a ‘beautifully-balanced bargain’.
RIESLING
Majella Coonawarra Riesling 2023
Riesling was once a dominant player in Coonawarra, and this is a reminder of its quality in good vintages, which ’23 provided in spades. A very expressive display of lime, white stone fruit and Granny Smith apple, acidity providing a cleansing finish and aftertaste.
■ 93 points, $19, 12% alcohol
■ Drink to 2033
■ majellawines.com.au
Taylors Estate Label Clare Valley Riesling 2023
Taylors’ large estate plantings allow it to make rieslings at this low price, with precisely balanced lime, lemon and apple held together with balancing acidity. And, like all good rieslings, it will live for years, gaining depth and texture as it ages.
■ 94 points, $22, 12% alcohol
■ Drink to 2038
■ taylorswines.com.au
West Cape Howe Mount Barker Riesling 2023
The 45-year-old Langton Vineyard takes its name from the southernmost point of Western Australia, the wine coming from the best blocks on the vineyard. The perfumed, lime-infused bouquet is exceptional, the precisely calibrated palate rounding off a beautifully sculpted wine.
■95 points, $22, 12% alcohol
■ Drink to 2043
■ westcapehowewines.com.au
3 Drops Great Southern Riesling 2023
Great Southern riesling is a superb example of the variety thanks to the natural balance of varietal fruit flavours and shimmering acidity, perfectly captured by winemaker Rob Diletti. Add in purity and you have this wine. What more could anyone ask for?
■ 94 points, $27, 12% alcohol
■ Drink to 2033
■3drops.com
Best’s Great Western Riesling 2023
Victoria’s Great Western region is firmly established as one of the most consistent riesling growers (outside of traditional regions). Whiplash-fast out of the blocks, with its mix of citrus, apple and slate to the fore, this wine will coast through to 2034.
■ 95 points, $27, 11.5% alcohol
■ Drink to 2034
■bestswines.com
Rieslingfreak No. 4 Riesling 2023
This is sourced from vineyards across the southern ranges of the Eden Valley. It stands out for its marriage of intensity and finesse, with a mouth-watering array of lime juice and silvery acidity flavours, the balance and length beyond reproach.
■96 points, $28, 12% alcohol
■ Drink to 2043
■ rieslingfreak.com
Kerrigan + Berry Mt Barker Great Southern Riesling 2023
Industry veterans Michael Kerrigan and Gavin Berry secure the grapes for this wine from the Langton Vineyard planted in 1975 on a cool, south-facing slope. The core of lime/lemon fruit has a coat of tinkling acidity that shines on the lingering finish.
■ 94 points, $30, 12% alcohol
■ Drink to 2033
■ kerriganandberry.com.au
Pewsey Vale Vineyard Prima 23GR Single Vineyard Estate Eden Valley Riesling 2023
This early-picked dessert wine riesling offers natural levels of acidity and residual sugar requiring no adjustment, and it is every bit as refreshing as intended. It literally dances in the mouth, and will do so for years.
■ 96 points, $30, 9% alcohol
■ Drink to 2029
■pewseyvale.com
SEMILLON
De Iuliis Hunter Valley Semillon 2023
The moody Hunter weather threatened, but the rain stopped, the soil allowed harvesters onto the vines – and the quality of this super-expressive lemon, apple and lanolin fruit had its life to live, and transformed itself from chrysalis to resplendent butterfly.
■ 95 points, $30, 11% alcohol
■ Drink to 2043
■dewine.com.au
SAUVIGNON BLANC & OTHER BLENDS
Deep Woods Estate Margaret River Sauvignon Blanc 2023
There’s a special bond between place and variety that here creates a style unmatched elsewhere in Australia. The partial barrel ferment of a richly flavoured mix of snow pea, citrus and passionfruit has a refreshing undercarriage of polished acidity.
■95 points, $25, 12.5% alcohol
■ Drink to 2026
■deepwoods.com.au
Flametree Margaret River Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2023
Margaret River has a choke hold on SBS blends, with or without oak (the latter as here) and regardless of the percentage of the components. This wine is typical, full to the brim of citrus, stone fruit and passionfruit, but doesn’t cloy.
■ 94 points, $25, 12.5% alcohol
■ Drink to 2026
■ flametreewines.com
CHARDONNAY
Hoddles Creek Estate Yarra Valley Chardonnay 2022
It’s nigh on impossible to match Hoddles Creek Estate’s marriage of fastidious vineyard care and handling in the winery, Franco D’Anna pulling the levers at precisely the right moment. There is strictly limited introduction of oak without any sense of loss.
■ 95 points, $25, 13.2% alcohol
■ Drink to 2030
■hoddlescreekestate.com.au
Hay Shed Hill Margaret River Chardonnay 2022
This is a first-class estate chardonnay from a great vintage; using the best free-run juice fermented in French barriques and matured therein for 11 months. The richness of the white peach and melon fruit gives rise to classic each way drinking options.
■97 points, $30, 12.5% alcohol
■ Drink to 2032
■hayshedhill.com.au
OTHER BLENDS
Tahbilk Museum Release Marsanne 2017
A flowery honeysuckle perfume translates into a delicious mouthfeel, minerally acidity subdued by a generous serving of lime, Granny Smith apple and guava fruits. Once it has reached the plateau of its overall flavour, it will coast for another three to five years.
■95 points, $25, 12% alcohol
■Drink to 2030
■tahbilk.com.au
Handpicked Regional Selections Mornington Peninsula Pinot Gris 2022
The variety is at its best in cool regions, the cooler the better. Mornington Peninsula and Tasmania lead the pack, here with fermentation and brief maturation in steel and oak, its floral nature given every chance to shine.
■ 95 points, $29, 12.8% alcohol
■Drink to 2027
■ handpickedwines.com.au
Bremerton Special Release Langhorne Creek Fiano 2023
This southern Italian variety is the best white grape to come onto the market for many years. It has a natural textural framework to go beside its fragrant lemon curd and fig flavours. Its length and acidity will stand it in good stead if cellared.
■95 points, $26, 12.5% alcohol
■Drink to 2027
■ bremerton.com.au
Oliver’s Taranga Vineyards McLaren Vale Fiano 2023
This is one of the best fianos going around these days. It has the rare quality of a white wine with inbuilt texture and structure, its flavours ranging from savoury to lemony.
■95 points, $28, 12.5% alcohol
■Drink to 2029
■oliverstaranga.com
Longview Vineyard Macclesfield Adelaide Hills Grüner Veltliner 2023
Hmm. Isn’t this something? It has a dusting of white pepper on the bouquet, the palate with quite wonderful flavour and a glorious texture, thanks in part to near-invisible tannins. Bosc pear and a hint of dried apricot are sidelines.
■97 points, $30, 12.5% alcohol
■Drink to 2033
■ longviewvineyard.com.au
Coriole McLaren Vale Piquepoul 2023
Piquepoul is known for its retention of acidity in the hot Mediterranean climate of southern France, and it brings that quality to McLaren Vale, where the Lloyd family regards it as a favourite variety. Its acidity is coupled with a lemony flavour in this iteration.
■93 points, $28, 11.8% alcohol
■Drink to 2029
■coriole.com
Dune El Beyda 2022
A blend of grenache blanc, grenache gris, clairette and piquepoul. Well that does it: a white wanting to be a red, maybe. It’s full to its eyeballs with spices more often encountered with red wines. Over-extracted? Perhaps, but it rightens the yacht and we all lurch forward.
■94 points, $28, 12% alcohol
■Drink to 2029
■dunewine.com