Value never goes out of fashion but it’s particularly important right now, and we’re always on the hunt, always trying to find where value is at its keenest. Congratulations then to the Best Value Wineries of this year; more power to you. This category is closely tied to the awarding of special value rosettes ✪ to wines that offer value for money, whatever their price point. We present the 2025 Best Value Winery Shortlist – meet our finalists below.
Billy Button Wines
Where: Alpine Valleys, Victoria
Established: 2014
Winemakers: Glenn James, Joanna Marsh and Melissa Fettke
Why: "Billy Button’s wines seem to hit the quality/value mark every time they venture out the door... All the wines here (spanning an ultra-large selection of varieties) are made in highly drinkable, food-friendly styles."
Bleasdale Vineyards
Where: Langhorne Creek, South Australia
Established: 1850
Winemakers: Matt Laube
Viticulturist: Sarah Keough
Why: "Bleasdale is more than value. Bleasdale is more than its long and celebrated history. Bleasdale is a modern, quality producer that we can’t, quite frankly, sing the praises of highly enough."
Bremerton Wines
Where: Langhorne Creek, South Australia
Established: 1988
Winemaker: Rebecca Willson
Why: "This is a producer you can rely on."
De Bortoli Yarra Valley
Where: Yarra Valley, Victoria
Established: 1987
Winemakers: Steve Webber, Jono Thompson and Kate Webber
Viticulturist: Rob Sutherland
Why: "...name a social setting and De Bortoli has the perfect wine for it, at the perfect price."
Forest Hill Vineyard
Where: Great Southern, Western Australia
Established: 1965
Winemakers: Liam Carmody and Guy Lyons
Viticulturist: Ross Pike
Why: "It’s been an emphatic year for Forest Hill... This Great Southern/Mount Barker producer is kicking goals from all angles."
Mulline
Where: Geelong, Victoria
Established: 2019
Winemaker: Ben Mullen
Viticulturist: Ben Mullen
Why: "Such excellence never springs out of nowhere, and that’s certainly the case with Mulline. Clearly there are some fantastic vineyard resources in play here but the person who makes the wine – Ben Mullen – could not come more highly credentialled."
Stella Bella Wines
Where: Margaret River, Western Australia
Established: 1996
Winemaker: Luke Jolliffe
Viticulturist: James Hayward
Why: "It can be hard at times to find genuine value out of Margaret River, but Stella Bella offers plenty."
Trentham Estate
Where: Murray Darling, New South Wales
Established: 1988
Winemakers: Anthony Murphy and Steve Yang
Viticulturist: Pat Murphy
Why: "This producer rarely gets the credit it deserves... For mid-weight drinking, white or red, this darling of the Murray (river) always has some genuine contenders."
The full 2026 Shortlist is now live
The 2025 Value Winery of the Year has already been announced, and we've now moved onto the 2026 Shortlist. Find all the latest finalists here.
*This is an edited extract from the 2025 Halliday Wine Companion, with reviews by James Halliday, Campbell Mattinson, Dave Brookes, Jane Faulkner, Jeni Port, Marcus Ellis, Mike Bennie, Philip Rich, Shanteh Wale and Toni Paterson MW. Cover art by Vera Babida.
Quotes by Campbell Mattinson.
