Halliday 2024 Wine Companion
The results are in!
At Hayes Family Wines, we are once again excited to announce our results published in the 2024 Halliday Wine Companion. This year, all the Barossa Wines were once again tasted by Dave Brookes.
So to the Results. Hayes Family Wines was awarded a 5 Red Star Rating once again. We were awarded 5 Stars in the Halliday Wine Companion in our first year with our first set of wines. It’s very exciting to have been recognised once again for the consistency across our range.
This year we chose to focus on our Shiraz based wines and did not submit any of our 2022 Grenache or Mataro’s. Although tasted very early after bottling, they scored really consistently well across the range. We think they are looking even better now just in time for release. Some highlights were:
95 Points - 2021 Estate Block 1 Shiraz
95 Points - 2021 Estate Block 9 Shiraz
96 Points - 2021 Three Kings
94 Points - 2021 Primrose Vineyard Mataro
93 Points - 2021 Estate Mataro Block 3
93 Points - 2021 Barossa Valley Shiraz
93 Points - 2021 Barossa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
93 Points - 2021 Fromm Vineyard Shiraz
93 Points - 2021 Hoffmann DV Shiraz
You can read the Wine Companion reviews for each of these wines and so many others by purchasing a copy of the book via the Wine Companion website or by clicking on the each of the wines above or the View Wines button below.
2021 Estate Block 1 Shiraz
100% Old Vine Shiraz grown on our Certified Organic Estate Vineyard in Stone Well in the Western Barossa Valley. Block 1 is a special Shiraz Block, planted in the 1940s and dry grown for much of the time since. Matured for 20 months in new and second use 300l French Oak hogsheads, before being bottled unfined and unfiltered.
2021 Hayes Family Wines Estate Block 1 Shiraz, $70
Certified organic, 1940s-planted shiraz from Hayes Block 1 in the famous subregion of Stone Well. Glossy blackberry and plum fruits on display here with hints of warm earth, baking spices, ironstone, blueberry pie, barbecued meats, cedar, chocolate bullets and violets. Unctuous fruit density with tightly-packed, powdery tannins and a slew of glistening blackberry fruits on the long finish. Just the merest hint of heat, but blimey it's good drinking.
95 Points
Dave Brookes, 2024 Wine Companion
2021 Estate Block 9 Shiraz
Like its Block 1 brother, 100% Old Vine Shiraz grown on our Certified Organic estate vineyard in Stone Well. Block 9 is a special Shiraz Block, planted in the 1940s, mid slope and facing South. Protected from the Western Sun (the rows run east west). The soils are thin, the conditions very tough. Bottled unfined and unfiltered.
2021 Hayes Family Wines Estate Block 9 Shiraz, $70Certified organic shiraz from Hayes Block 9 in Stone Well, made by Andrew Seppelt. Deep, purple-edged crimson in the glass with aromas of ironstone-flecked blackberry, black cherry and blood plum supported by hints of baking spices, shoyu, licorice, dark chocolate, earth, iodine and roasting meats. There's a deep fruit presence here, powdery tannins melting back into the wine with super-rich black fruits, spice and veal jus notes on the long finish. Impressive stuff from an excellent vintage.
95 Points
Dave Brookes, 2024 Wine Companion
2021 PRIMROSE VINEARD MATARO
The Primrose Vineyard is a special spot, high above the Ebenezer floor bordering on Moppa. The grapes here struggle, but the fruit produced year in year out are special. Great grape growing and a wonderful site produce classically styled wines that are destined to improve for many years.
2021 Hayes Family Wines Primrose Mataro, $45Sourced from a tiny, dry-grown bush block on the Schulz vineyard in the Ebenezer district. A very attractive wine, supple and long, plum and blackberry fruit the drivers within a perfectly balanced palate. With only 55 dozen made, there's no showboating here.
94 Points
Dave Brookes, 2024 Wine Companion
A comment on Winery Ratings and Scores
Wine Writers, Wine Shows and both domestic and international publications are an important part of our industry. But like you and I, tastes vary not just between individuals, but on different days for the same reviewer. Wines also develop and change over time.
We are confident that our wines look better after 12 months in bottle, typically when we look to release them. Often, our wines are tasted immediately on bottling by reviewers. Wines destined for the Halliday Companion are tasted in December and January for publication in August.
This impacts the wines that are submitted, for example, no 2022 Grenache based wines were submitted despite their exceptional quality. They might need to wait for next year.