Wine submissions are now open for the Halliday Wine Companion 2022.
The details and requirements for submitting samples for the Halliday Wine Companion have changed, so we ask you to please read the following instructions carefully.
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Deadlines for the Halliday Wine Companion 2022
27 November 2020 - Final deadline for samples to arrive
5 February 2021 - Deadline for newly bottled samples to arrive. This deadline is strictly only for newly bottled samples. Do not hold off on shipping already bottled samples. Large shipments will not be accepted at this late date.
Please send samples immediately and don’t wait until the deadline. Large submissions received close to the deadline may not be tasted. Watch weather forecasts to avoid shipping during hot weeks.
The tasting panel will do everything it can to review all samples received, but regrettably the increasing volume of samples makes it impossible to guarantee that everything can be tasted.
For the best chance of inclusion, please send samples as early as possible, with information and packaging as below.
Please tell us if you cannot submit wines (for reasons of drought, pandemic, natural disaster or otherwise).
Eligible wines
Only wines satisfying all of the following conditions are eligible for submission. Wines must be:
- Finished wines – tank and barrel samples are not accepted
- Made only from Australian grapes
- Vinified in an Australian winery
- Available for sale in Australia through a legitimate retail outlet (wine retailer, cellar door, restaurant, etc) – export-only wines are not eligible
- Not retailers’ and restaurants’ own branded wines made by a third-party winery, unless the retailer/restaurant owns the vineyard/s
- Not vintages that have previously been submitted to the Companion or your taster
- Only the current/ future vintage, unless cellar/ museum release
Tasting notes will only be written and made available for wines that receive 84 points or above. They will appear on winecompanion.com.au. A selection of these will also be published in the Halliday Wine Companion 2022 book. We encourage submissions of wines that are highly likely to be in that category only.
Wine information
Please label the back of each bottle with the RRP. Each wine should be accompanied by a printed tech sheet (not a press release) limited to one page, with the following information:
- GI/s and relevant viticultural and vinification notes
- Contact name, phone number and email address, or those of the winemaker
- Release date if not yet available
Lab labels (unlabelled samples) must include all of the following:
- The full and complete name of the wine
- Region/s (GI/s)
- Alcohol
- Release date if not yet available
Packaging
Please send one bottle of each wine, two bottles if natural cork sealed. Please send samples in cardboard cartons with cardboard spacers between bottles. For ease of handling and environmental responsibility, please do not include any packaging other than cardboard spacers. Do not send:
- Individually wrapped bottles
- Polystyrene, Styrofoam, soft plastic, foam, packaging beans or inflatable packaging
- Empty bottles
- Newspaper
Regional experts tasting panel
In place of the rolling system of allocating wineries to tasters, we are pleased to announce our panel of regional specialists, to provide stronger links with regions and wineries, offering continuity and connection.
The Australian Wine Companion tasting team is Tyson Stelzer (chief editor), James Halliday, Ned Goodwin, Jane Faulkner, Jeni Port, Tony Love and Erin Larkin. Each are respected tasters and writers in their own right, with a fantastic diversity of age, experience, gender and, importantly, for the first time, a taster from every one of Australia’s key wine states (with a slight stretch for Tyson, the de facto Tasmanian residing in Queensland!). James continues to stay closely involved in the Companion as, in his words, ‘taster at large.’
Please send samples to the designated taster for your region as below.
Brands sourcing from multiple regions can make the choice to allocate samples to tasters based either on the GI of each wine individually, or on the location of the winery in which it is crushed. For instance, Henschke could send its Adelaide Hills wines either to the Barossa taster or to the Adelaide Hills taster.
Large groups like Accolade and Treasury should submit samples to multiple tasters based on the GI of each wine or the locations of the wineries in which each of their brands are crushed. Arras, for instance, should be sent to the Tasmanian taster.
| State | Zone | Region | Taster |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Australia |
Barossa | Barossa Valley Eden Valley |
Tyson Stelzer |
| Mount Lofty Ranges | Adelaide Hills Adelaide Plains |
Tony Love | |
| Clare Valley | Jane Faulkner | ||
| Fleurieu |
McLaren Vale | Ned Goodwin | |
| Langhorne Creek Currency Creek Kangaroo Island Southern Fleurieu |
Tony Love | ||
| Limestone Coast | Robe Coonawarra Padthaway Mount Benson Wrattonbully Mount Gambier |
Jane Faulkner |
|
| Lower Murray | Riverland | ||
| Far North | Southern Flinders Ranges | ||
| Peninsulas | Southern Eyre Peninsula | ||
| Victoria | Port Phillip |
Mornington Peninsula Macedon Ranges Sunbury |
|
| Geelong | Jeni Port | ||
| Yarra Valley* | Jane Faulkner |
||
| Central Victoria | Bendigo Nagambie Lakes Goulburn Valley Heathcote Strathbogie Ranges Upper Goulburn |
Jeni Port |
|
| North East Victoria | Rutherglen King Valley Alpine Valleys Beechworth Glenrowan |
||
| Western Victoria | Grampians and Great Western Pyrenees Henty Ballarat |
Jeni Port | |
| Gippsland | Gippsland | Jane Faulkner | |
| North West Victoria | Murray Darling Swan Hill |
||
| New South Wales | Hunter | Lower Hunter Valley Upper Hunter Valley |
Ned Goodwin |
| Central Ranges | Mudgee Orange Cowra |
||
| Southern New South Wales |
Canberra Gundagai Hulltops Tumbarumba |
Jane Faulkner | |
| Big Rivers | Riverina Perricoota |
Ned Goodwin |
|
| South Coast | Shoalhaven Coast Southern Highlands |
||
| Northern Rivers | Hastings River | ||
| Northern Slopes | New England | ||
| Western Plains | Western Plains | ||
| Western Australia | South West Australia | Margaret River Great Southern Albany Denmark Frankland River Mount Barker Porongurup Blackwood Valley Geographe Manjimup Pemberton |
Erin Larkin |
| Greater Perth | Swan Peel Perth Hills |
||
| South East Coastal | South East Coastal | ||
| Tasmania | Northern Tasmania | Northern Tasmania | Tyson Stelzer |
| Southern Tasmania | Southern Tasmania | ||
| East Coast | East Coast | ||
| Queensland | Queensland | Granite Belt South Burnett Darling Downs Coastal and Hinterland |
Tyson Stelzer |
| Northern Territory | Northern Territory | Northern Territory |
*Please note: Steven Creber has made the decision to immediately step down from his role as Yarra Valley taster for the Halliday Wine Companion, with Melbourne-based Jane Faulkner stepping in to review Yarra Valley wines for the Companion. Any wines already submitted to Steven do not need to be resubmitted. Any wines yet to be sent should be directed to Jane.
Exceptions
The following wineries are requested to send samples as follows, as a result of personal or commercial relationships with the taster for their region:
| Picardy | Tony Love |
| Marri Wood Park | Tony Love |
| Crooked Brook | Tony Love |
| Frankland Estate | Tony Love |
| Lobethal Road | Erin Larkin |
| Tapanappa | Tyson Stelzer |
| Terre a Terre | Tony Love |
| Bethany | Tony Love |
| Salomon Estate | Tyson Stelzer |
Can I send wines to more than one member of the tasting panel?
Many wineries already send samples to members of the tasting panel to review for other publications. You are of course welcome to continue to do so, according to arrangements that you have in place with each taster.
The samples sent to your Halliday regional specialist should be addressed to ‘Halliday Wine Companion’. Only the taster designated to your region will review your wines for the Companion.
Samples sent to other tasters in the panel will not be reviewed for the Halliday Wine Companion. If you fail to send samples to your designated regional specialist, you will miss out on inclusion in the Companion.
Awards judging
Judging of the Halliday Australian Wine Companion Awards will now be conducted by the full tasting panel in March each year. The panel will gather to select the winners under each category from the top wines put forward by each regional specialist. True to the history and spirit of the Companion, wines will not be judged blind but considered in the context of their full identity, winery, region, vintage, history and pedigree. Wineries shortlisted for the awards tasting will be contacted for samples.
Tasting Panel Delivery Details
Please send samples in six or twelve bottle cartons and avoid single and double packs.
Please refer to the wine information and packaging details (as above) for full requirements for wine information and packaging.
| Taster | Address | Contact | Instructions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tyson Stelzer |
Halliday Wine Companion c/o Wine Press 14 Andrea Street, Tarragindi Queensland 4121 Australia |
Phone: 0402 821 230 Email: tyson@winecompanion.com.au |
Delivery instructions: Authority to leave at rear sliding door if premises is unattended. Specific instructions for samples sent to Tyson: Please send samples in six of twelve bottle cartons and avoid using single and double packs. Please refer to the wine information and packaging details (as above) for full requirements. |
Erin Larkin |
Halliday Wine Companion 22a Joslin Street (back house) Hilton WA 6163 |
Phone: 0402 560 196 Email: erin@erinlarkin.com.au |
Specific instructions for samples sent to Erin: Please send samples in six or twelve bottle cartons. Please refer to the wine information and packaging details (as above) for full requirements. |
| Jeni Port | Halliday Wine Companion 91 Buckingham Drive Heidelberg VIC 3084 |
Phone: 0412 886 695 Email: jeni@jeniport.com |
Delivery instructions: Please leave an 'ok to leave' note to leave the wines on the front doorstep. Specific instructions for samples sent to Jeni: Please send samples in six bottle cartons. Please refer to the wine information and packaging details (as above) for full requirements. |
| Ned Goodwin | Halliday Wine Companion Kennards Self Storage 17 Wellington Street Rozelle NSW 2039 |
Kennards phone: 02 0555 1099 Email: rednedwine@me.com |
Delivery instructions: Please send wines to arrive after 1 October 2020. Specific instructions for samples sent to Ned: Please send samples in six or twelve bottle cartons. Please refer to the wine information and packaging details (as above) for full requirements. |
| Tony Love | Halliday Wine Companion 6 Georgina Avenue Crafers SA 5152 |
Phone: 0409 192 837 Email: tony@tonylove.com.au |
Delivery instructions: Please give courier permission to leave wine on the verandah by the front door. Specific instructions for samples sent to Tony: Please send samples in six or twelve bottle cartons. Please refer to the wine information and packaging details (as above) for full requirements. |
| Jane Faulkner | Halliday Wine Companion 17 Carpenter Street Brighton VIC 3186 |
Phone: 0409 232 996 Email: janefaulkner@winematters.com.au |
Delivery instructions: Please ensure there is an authority to leave wine on the porch without signature. Specific instructions for samples sent to Jane: For samples of six bottles or more, please send in a six-bottle carton or two boxes, not a twelve-bottle carton. If less than six bottles are being sent, preference is for two-pack or three-pack cardboard boxes with no plastic. Please contact Jane immediately if there is an issue with sending wine on time. Please refer to the wine information and packaging details (as above) for full requirements. |
Questions
Please direct any queries to your taster or to Emily Lightfoot or Tyson Stelzer:
Emily Lightfoot
Tasting Manager
Phone: (03) 8520 6403
Email: emily@winecompanion.com.au
Tyson Stelzer
Chief Editor
Phone: 0402 821 230
Email: tyson@winecompanion.com.au