A New Era for the James Halliday 2022 Wine Companion
The results are in!
At Hayes Family Wines, we are once again excited to announce our ratings published in the 2022 James Halliday Wine Companion. This year, all the Barossa Wines were tasted by Tyson Stelzer (previously it varied but for Hayes Family Wines, James Halliday tasted all our wines). There has been a lot published about the changes implemented by Tyson in his new role, but for us, we have simply continued to focus on making the best wines we possibly can.
So to the Results. Hayes Family Wines was awarded a 5 Red Star Rating once again. We were awarded 5 Stars in the James Halliday Wine Companion in our first year with our first set of wines. This was upgraded to 5 Red Stars with our 4th vintage (you needed to have 3 successive 5 Star rating to obtain 5 Red star). It’s very exciting to have been recognised once again for our consistency across our range.
Scores across the board have seen a downward adjustment, as Tyson has communicated (see explanation below). Notwithstanding this, we received some great results for our Cabernet based wines as well as for the yet to be released 2020 Grenache based wines. Some highlights were:
95 Points - 2018 V&A Lane Cabernet Sauvignon
94 Points - 2018 Reserve
93 Points - 2019 Hoffmann DV Shiraz
92 Points - 2020 Estate Grenache Block 2
Other currently unreleased wines, including the 2020 Koonunga Grenaches, 2020 Grenache Shiraz and 2020 Sam’s Grenache, also scored well.
It was certainly disappointing to see Shiraz’s from the Barossa Valley score significantly less than in previous editions. This was particularly surprising given the quality of the 2019 vintage as I have previously written. Our wines are very strong from 2019 and I’m very happy to have them in my cellar, as are many of you.
You can read the Wine Companion Reviews for each of these wines by clicking on the wine above or the View Wines button below.
2018 V&A Lane Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the great varieties of the world. Widely planted. Very popular (it is the second most planted red variety in Australia and the Barossa Valley after Shiraz.
Our Cabernet in 2018 was sourced from an old vineyard in Coonawarra in South Australia’s south. Coonawarra borders Victoria and produces classically styled wines from a cooler climate then the Barossa. The wines are highly structured and typically built to age.
Ours is no exception.
2018 Hayes Family Wines V&A Lane Cabernet Sauvignon, $50
A single hogshead of medium-bodied cabernet. Varietal purity and elegance are the calling cards of a high-quality wine. Yes, it's a very good vintage, the grapes reflecting that, but this alone doesn't mean success. Like its Reserve sibling, it's beautifully crafted.
James Halliday, 2022 Wine Companion
A comment on Winery Ratings and Scores
As many of you would be aware, in the last twelve months James Halliday has stepped back and transitioned his role as the Editor in Chief for the Wine Companion to Tyson Stelzer.
Tyson has made a number of changes to how wines are tasted and by whom, and also in respect to scores. In essence, there is an intent to lower the scores to better align to his assessment of global benchmarks. You can read about his approach here.
As a wine producer, we will wait and see. Like all change, particularly where you have had a positive relationship with a predecessor, there is always some apprehension. Time will tell what impact this has on Hayes Family Wines and the broader Australian Wine Industry.
What we will keep doing is making the best possible wines that we know you all love.
James Halliday & Tyson Stelzer