Great results from the halliday Wine Companion 2021!
2021 HALLIDAY WINE COMPANION
Every year we get excited about the release of Halliday's Wine Companion, and even though this year is a little bit different, the results are still great to see.
This year Oakdene has 13 wines rated 91 points or above and has retained a 5 red star rating for the seventh year running, keeping Oakdene in the top echelon of Australian producers.
We have put together our list of Halliday silver and gold rated wines (91pts - 96 pts), some yet to be released (watch this space), so you can make a selection of our best, and have them delivered to your door with a 10% discount and free shipping Australia wide on 6 bottles or more. We have also noted the wines Halliday has declared 'Special Value' wines considered to offer special value for money, indicated by red diamond ♦
You can download a copy of the tasting notes here.
2021 Halliday Wine Companion Scores
2019 Bellarine Peninsula Sauvignon Blanc ♦ 92 points
Sauvignon is always a cut above at this address. Texturally broader than most, without being fat. Conversely, there is nothing green, raspy or screechy about the texture either. Just an easy glide of greengage, grapefruit, herb and a lick of spearmint. (Ned Goodwin)
2019 Oakdene Single Vineyard Jessica Sauvignon (not yet released) 93 points
Drinking more like a Graves than a Sancerre. The barrel work, the dice of differentiation. Pink grapefruit and candied tangerine zest reel across a broad palate, flecked with curd, lanolin and pungent mineral notes. Richness and a tensile freshness all in one. (Ned Goodwin)
2019 Bellarine Peninsula Pinot Grigio 91 points
Straight-up quality grigio and no, this is not an oxymoron. Tarte tatin, nashi pear and cinnamon glaze spurt across a juicy plume of a finish. Eminently satisfying. (Ned Goodwin)
2019 Oakdene Single Vineyard Ly Ly Pinot Gris ♦ (not yet released) 94 points
This mid-weighted gris has been treated with as much love and care as any in the land. Oak, nicely worked into the fray, imparts textural detail, while conferring a structural authority to riffs of bitter almond, marzipan, baking spice and ripe apple. Long, pointed and intense of flavour. (Ned Goodwin)
2018 Bellarine Peninsula Chardonnay ♦ (sold out) 93 points
This mid-weighted chardonnay was fermented and matured in French oak (10% new; 10 months), serving as a pillar of guidance to the billowing flavours: nashi pear, nectarine and a core of lees-derived nougatine to toasted nut riffs. Real intensity of fruit here manifest as a sappy feel of glycerine and extract in the mouth. Delicious and fine value. (Ned Goodwin)
2018 Oakdene Single Vineyard Liz’s Chardonnay ♦ 96 points
Stunning chardonnay! Unabashedly rich, but tensile, energetic and incredibly long. The stone fruit references and notes of dried mango are almost sublimated by a saline maritime freshness, beautifully appointed oak and Meursault-like suggestions of toasted hazelnut and curd. Oakdene's tattoo of intensity of flavour melded by quality fruit, a fine site and a deft winemaking hand. (Ned Goodwin)
2019 Oakdene Bellarine Peninsula Late Harvest Riesling ♦ 95 points
A stellar wine, packing extract and an uncanny intensity of flavour into an ethereal, feather-weight package. Sublime! Nashi pear, talc and Granny Smith apple, with merely a semblance of sweetness sublimated by a whiplash of acidity. And yet 135g/l of sugar. Very fine. (Ned Goodwin)
2019 Bellarine Peninsula Rose ♦ 92 points
A melody of cab, shiraz, merlot and franc making for an intensely flavoured rose. In an age when so many seem to be striving for pallid expressions bound by a herbal twine, this has flavour. Lots of it: red currant, musk, tangerine and orange rind. The acidity is saline and fresh, towing it all long. (Ned Goodwin)
2018 Bellarine Peninsula Pinot Noir ♦ (sold out) 92 points
The estate line is impressive. Ample wines with lip-smacking fruit and a generosity juxtaposed against maritime tension. This is no exception. MV6 fuelling Dijon 114 and 115 clones. Pulpy. Sappy. Crunchy strawberry to dark cherry notes. Lilac and a little bracken. Gentle seams of oak galvanising the melee. (Ned Goodwin)
2018 Oakdene Single Vineyard Peta’s Pinot Noir 94 points
An ambient ferment in open-top pots, smattered with 20% whole-bunch, before completion in French barriques (30% new). The result is a rich pinot with a spicy brood and pallid hue. Cherry cola, root spice and satsuma plum notes billow across a hinge of woodsy tannins, earthen scents and cardamon to turmeric-soused acidity. (Ned Goodwin)
2018 Bellarine Peninsula Shiraz ♦ Halliday Top 100, 95 points
Open-fermented in small pots, then matured in French oak for 11 months. A most attractive assemblage of bright, supple red and purple fruits, the oak hovering but not threatening the fruit, the tannins exemplary, the pinch of spice well selected. (James Halliday)
2018 Oakdene Single Vineyard William Shiraz (not yet released) 93 points
A lustrous crimson. Glossy and attractive. This is good. Very. High on personality and a welcome respite from the wave of overtly reductive shiraz that mars the contemporary wine-scape. A seasoning of 15% whole-bunch in the mix. Maturation in French oak (30% new) for 16 months. Ferrous of texture. Saline, too. Violet, tapenade, iodine and salumi notes shimmy long across a rail of peppery acidity. A little more grape tannin would service more savouriness. (Ned Goodwin)
2018 Oakdene Single Vineyard Bernard’s Cabernets (not yet released) 91 points
A Right Bank Bordeaux-inspired blend of merlot (63%), cabernet franc (23%) and the rest, cabernet Fermented under the aegis of natural yeast before a maturation period of 16 months in French wood (30% new). A mid-ruby segueing to aromas of blood plum, lilac florals, red currant, rose water and cedar oak. Mid-weighted. Easy-going. Almost too easy. A bit more grape tannin would be welcome, but a poised and effortless drink nevertheless. (Ned Goodwin)