James Halliday - Halliday Wine Companion 2021: The bestselling and definitive guide to Australian wine

Respected wine critic and vigneron James Halliday AM has a career that spans 50 years, but he is most widely known for his witty and informative writing about wine. As one of the founders of Brokenwood in the Hunter Valley and thereafter of Coldstream Hills in the Yarra Valley, James is an unmatched authority on every aspect of the wine industry, from the planting and pruning of vines through to the creation and marketing of the finished product. His winemaking has led him to sojourns in Bordeaux and Burgundy, and he had a long career as a wine judge in Australia and overseas. In 1995 he received the wine industrys ultimate accolade, the Maurice OShea Award. In 2010 James was made a Member of the Order of Australia for his services to the wine industry. Between 1960 and 1988 he was also a lawyer and partner of a large Sydney/Melbourne law firm.

James has written or contributed to nearly 80 books on wine since he began writing in 1970. His books have been translated into Mandarin, Japanese, French, German, Danish, Icelandic and Polish, and have been published in the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as in Australia. He is the author of Varietal Wines, James Hallidays Wine Atlas of Australia, The Australian Wine Encyclopedia and A Life in Wine.

Wine zones and regions of Australia

Contents

My introduction to the 2010 edition of the Wine Companion was written as Australias wine producers continued to grapple with overproduction caused by the reversal of the dizzy rise in exports (and production) over the first seven years of the new millennium. Common wisdom was that we needed to permanently remove 46 500ha, or 400 000t, to balance supply and demand. Nature intervened: after a bumper 2009 crop, 2010 fell dramatically to the smallest harvest of the following nine vintages. On the sales side, China spent $164 million importing our wines.

By the 2015 edition, the obstinately overvalued AUD (oscillating around 93 cents of the USD) was the centre of frustration. But for the 2018 edition, I was able to open with the words:Australian wine is in a good place right now. The green shoots of a few years ago are now leaves, flowers and grapes. The exchange rate had fallen substantially, Chinas imports had soared to $360 million, and the harvest was spot on the 20092014 average of 1.76 million tonnes.

In the year preceding the 2020 edition, China and Hong Kong spent over $1.1 billion on Australian wine, the value exceeding that of the US, UK and Canada combined. Chinese tourism was flying, with education of Chinese students one of Australias largest exports.

In the 12 months to March 2020, wine exports to China rose by 13% to $1.2 billion, but who knows when that figure will be exceeded. As this 2021 edition goes to print in June 2020, Australias exports to China are in the political vortex of our overall trade relations and have been identified by China as a target in its sights. Exports will fall, the only questions by how much and for how long.

I havent even mentioned COVID-19, but it has been brutal in its impact on small to medium-sized wineries, the vast majority reliant on tourism for the bulk of their sales income. When a household name such as Rocky OCallaghan sends a signed letter to everyone on Rockfords mailing list encouraging them to buy more, you realise how far, wide and deep the COVID-19 impact has penetrated the wine business.

I might have started this introduction reporting on the worst season ever for grape growing across the entire country, which I cover in detail for the . It was a deadly cocktail of full-on drought as the growing season got underway, then extreme heat and windy conditions that badly affected flowering and fruit-set. Of course, this also fanned the flames of the never-ending bushfires that devoured vineyards, farm equipment and wineries (the tragedy of Kangaroo Island a soul-searing example); the ensuing smoke taint ruined such red grapes that withstood all that had gone before.

As the spectre of COVID-19 becomes less daunting, I implore those who read these words to plan visits the longer, the better to the ever-changing beauty of Australias 63 wine regions. Those small to medium-sized wineries, many family owned and run, are seeking to free themselves from the vinous crucifix so many bear, and a quick look at the will tell you there is a feast to be had with the wines of 2019.

Before I launch into my normal explanation of the way the Wine Companion works, I need to lay out the groundwork for a one-off major change with this years winery ratings. If you read my snapshot of the weather conditions leading up to, during and immediately after the harvest on , you will realise this was a freakishly terrible vintage. Drought and bad weather during flowering decimated the yields in every region of Australia, previously unheard of. Bushfires burnt vineyards, wineries and houses, leaving smoke taint in their wake. Then COVID-19 struck, devastating the cellar door and restaurant trade, followed by the abrupt termination of most exports to China. For all these reasons, no winerys rating has been reduced this year.

Wineries

Henschke

1428 Keyneton Road, Keyneton, SA 5353 Region Eden Valley

T (08) 8564 8223 www.henschke.com.au Open MonSat 94.30

Winemaker Stephen Henschke Est. 1868 Dozens 30 000 Vyds 109ha

Henschke is the foremost medium-sized wine producer in Australia. Stephen and Prue Henschke have taken a crown jewel and polished it to an even greater brilliance. In this 2021 edition of the Wine Companion, it has a staggering six wines with 9799 points, and a further 13 with 9596 points. Year on year they have quietly added labels for single vineyards, single varieties or blends. The wines hail from the Eden Valley (the majority), the BarossaValley or the Adelaide Hills. Theres a compelling logic and focus no excursions to McLaren Vale, Coonawarra, etc. There are now four wines from the Hill of Grace Vineyard: the icon itself, Hill of Roses (also shiraz), Hill of Peace (semillon) and Hill of Faith (mataro); the last two are only made in exceptional years. Recognition as Winery of the Year is arguably long overdue. Exports to all major markets.

Henschke

The producer name appearing on the front label is used throughout the book.

Under normal circumstances, I look at the ratings for this and the previous two years; if the wines tasted this year justify a higher rating than last year, that higher rating is given. If, on the other hand, the wines are of lesser quality, I take into account the track record over the past two years (or longer where the winery is well known) and make a judgement call on whether it should retain its ranking or be given a lesser one. In what I call the mercy rating, in most instances a demotion is no more than half a star. Where no wines are submitted by a well-rated winery with a track record of providing samples, I may use my discretion to roll over last years rating. However, as noted above, this year no winerys rating was reduced.