Views from the tasting bench.
2026 is here and has roared in with a vengeance unfortunately kicking off with catastrophic fires, particularly in Central Victoria. Dozens of vineyards have been burnt out while other wineries have lost much of their bottled stock and many staff have lost their homes – it will be a very long and challenging road to recovery for these tight knit communities. This follows the loss of the Yungarra vineyard in Margaret River, where tinderbox conditions and routine vineyard maintenance set off a grass fire in December with much of the 2026 crop destroyed. It reminds us all of the many challenges that our vignerons face, independent of a rapidly changing global marketplace. But, on the flip side, Australia continues to make some mistakes of the best value premium wines in the world and we are lucky to have so many truly great wines to choose from in this country.
What are the takeaways from the Winepilot team in 2025? Overall we see much to celebrate in the Australian wine industry from 2025 and heading into 2026. Tough times are not all bad news as they are often necessary to drive significant change and what we see is that the leading players in our industry are sharpening their focus and honing in on potential opportunities, rolling with the punches and kicking serious goals, both locally and internationally. Every region has its stars and there are very few easy wins today but our top winemakers continue to find routes to success.
We start with the Barossa Valley’s Marco and Annie Cirillo. Well before Grenache was flavour of the month, Marco and Annie put their heart and soul into this variety with an unerring belief that, one day, the world would catch on, and they have. Their wines are better than ever and export opportunities bearing fruit have come from two decades of hard work and focus. Similarly, Toby and Emmanuelle Bekkers embody a modern vision for Australian wine, resurrecting the historic Clarendon Vineyard with an eye on making a new Australian icon. What most impressed this year was the attention to detail at every stage from vineyard management to elevage. We’ve also loved the newly invigorated Wirra Wirra, with fabulous winemakers Emma Wood, Kelly Wellington and Grace Wang emboldened by the vision from Matt Deller MW. Traditional brands rarely pivot so quickly or successfully and the future is clearly bright.
Fortune favours the brave and complacency is a sure fire route to failure, more than ever. But revolution is not always necessary – sometimes simply a mentronomic focus on supreme quality is more than enough. Stars of Margaret River including Moss Wood, Cullen, Woodlands and Vasse Felix continue to lead the way flying the Australian flag for world class Cabernet Sauvignon, still the most important premium red variety around the globe. This is where the future of Australian wine will be decided, at the coalface where blood, sweat and tears squeezes out every last drop of potential quality while a constant forward view helps to illuminate the future.
It has been our pleasure in 2025 to tell these stories, to bring these wines to light and we look forward to doing the same this year with some exciting new international projects. In 2026 our SA Wine Guide is spreading its wings and, in collaboration with Barossa-based wine writer Dr Mushui Huanmei Li, we will be publishing a Chinese printed edition of the SA Wine Guide in the first half of 2026. China remains the key export opportunity for Australian wine and we look forward to doing our part to help share the greatest wines and wineries in South Australia.
We have also recently added new team members who we feel are rising stars and will be vital for the future of the Australiasian wine industry, Cyndal Petty from Western Australia and Sammy Wilkinson from over the ditch in Nelson. We can not wait to share their views in 2026 alongside a river of reviews and stories from Australia’s leading team of wine critics including Jeni Port, Ken Gargett, Shanteh Wale, Ray Jordan, Tony Love, Lisa Cadelli, Tom Kline, Brendan Black, Nicole Bilson and the rest of our team. Last but not least we are also quietly working in the background on a revamped version of The Vintage Journal which we look forward to sharing in a couple of months time led by Andrew Caillard MW, Jeni Port, Angus Hughson and Tony Love.
2026 promises to be a pivotal year for the Australian wine industry and our teams are very much looking forward to providing you with the nation’s leading coverage on key events and groundbreaking wines.
