Get to know the winemakers behind these 2026 Halliday Wine Companion award-winning wineries

By now, you're probably well acquainted with all the award-winning wines from the 2026 Halliday Wine Companion awards – and have hopefully managed to get your hands on a few bottles. But how well do you know the winemakers behind the winning wines and wineries?

In this feature, we get to know the winemakers behind three of the award-winning wineries: Narelle King of Tar & Roses, Giles Cooke MW of Thistledown Wines and Cate Looney of Brown Brothers.

Read on to meet the makers, and click below to discover their wines.

Narelle King of Tar & Roses

Narelle King has been at the forefront of crafting elegant, expressive wines for over two decades. Her career took shape at Mitchelton Wines, where she met the late Don Lewis, and together they embarked on bold experiments in Priorat, Spain, hand picking grenache and cariñena from century-old vines. These formative experiences inspired the creation of Tar & Roses in 2006, blending traditional Mediterranean techniques and varieties with the distinct terroirs of Victoria.

What inspired you to work in the wine industry?
NK. My path to wine was far from conventional. With a background in accounting and a passion for travel, my curiosity led me from Australia to South America, where I encountered the world of winemaking for the first time. Captivated by the craft, I returned home, enrolled in a winemaking degree and never looked back.

How would you describe your approach to winemaking?
NK. For me, winemaking is both art and precision. I believe it’s the little things that make the difference, from constant monitoring during ferment to careful maturation, ensuring each wine reflects its variety and origin.

What bottle, vintage or campaign are you most proud of and why?
NK. There have been many proud moments over the last 20 years. I think what I enjoy immensely is the first vintage of a new variety, and T&R has had numerous new ones over recent years. Since Don passed away, we have introduced five new wines into the range, including varieties that I haven’t made before – so its like learning something new each time.

How does it feel to have won the 2026 Halliday Wine Companion Pinot Grigio of the Year?
NK. It feels fantastic to have won this award. Making the Grigio is always a challenge but a very enjoyable one. In 2024 we worked with five vineyards – from Faraday, south of Bendigo, to Murchison East, the Strathbogie Ranges and around Nagambie Lakes. In 2024 we also relocated our processing to a new facility, so we had the added challenge of building good working relationships with a new crew. From the vineyard selection, picking, winery specifications and blending to the final bottling, I am intrinsically intertwined in every decision, but I wouldn’t want it any other way.

Shop Narelle's Tar & Roses wines here

Giles Cooke MW of Thistledown Wines

Giles Cooke began his working life in the wine trade with Majestic Wine, working in retail management for two and a half years before heading north to Scotland to work for Alliance Wine, where he stayed for 30 years. He completed his Master of Wine in 2001, and today is the owner and winemaker of Thistledown Wines in McLaren Vale, winner of the 2026 Halliday Wine Companion Wine of the Year.

What inspired you to work in the wine industry?
GC. I did a history degree at university, which generally schooled me in how to eat and drink well. Instead of following a sensible career path, I decided to follow my passion for food and wine and joined Majestic Wine in London. Subsequent roles in buying and marketing allowed me to travel widely, forming a particular love for the wines (and foods) of Spain as well as Australia – to the point where I was often carving jamon at wine tastings rather than pouring wines.

How would you describe your approach to winemaking, and why is this important to you?
GC. I’m a keen chef, but neither trained or one to follow recipes slavishly. It’s very much about taking amazing ingredients and working with them intuitively with a clear vision of what I’m intending to produce. My approach to winemaking is very similar. I love working with charismatic old vineyards that produce wines of great transparency and faithfulness to site, and my role is just to coax the process along. That said, there is great attention to detail in site and block selection, picking times, ferments and finishing – but always with an objective of doing nothing unless we have to.

What bottle, vintage or campaign are you most proud of and why?
GC. Given that we have just won Halliday wine of the Year for the 2024 Charming Man Grenache, it would be churlish of me to say anything other than this wine. We are immensely proud of the work we have done, along with others, to raise the profile of this incredible vineyard and shine a light on the dedication demonstrated by the Smart family. But it's not just about one vineyard, but about the fate and value of old-vine grenache and old vines in general. Undervalued until very recently, grenache is now rightly seen as the signature variety for McLaren Vale, and I’d like to think that its sustainable future is assured – not something anyone could have said even 10 years ago.

How does it feel to have won the 2026 Halliday Wine Companion Wine of the Year?
GC. I founded Thistledown in 2010 but until early this year it was a subsidiary of a larger, UK-owned wine business. To win a major Halliday award this year is particularly special and I guess it reinforces that 'fortune favours the brave'. We’re also a smaller team since becoming independent and, though we have a wide circle of support from growers to the winery team to accountants, the heart of Thistledown is myself, Paddy and Laura and I owe them a debt of gratitude for believing in me and in Thistledown through these first, sometimes challenging, months.

Shop Giles' Thistledown wines here

Cate Looney of Brown Brothers

Cate Looney has been part of the family-owned Brown Family Wine Group for over 18 years, having joined in 2005 and been promoted to the role of senior winemaker in 2016. In that time, she has contributed to a number of top accolades, including the Patricia Brut Pinot Noir Chardonnay 2018 being crowned the 2025 Halliday Wine Companion Sparkling Wine of the Year, and Brown Brothers winning this year's People's Choice Award. Today, Cate leads a winemaking team of five and oversees the day-to-day operations at the 20,000-tonne Milawa facility in Victoria's King Valley.

What inspired you to work in the wine industry?
CL. Curiosity. I started drinking wine and wanted to learn and understand more about how it was made, so I headed to university. While there, I got to taste a great cabernet from my birth year and it blew my mind that a 20-plus-year-old wine could still be so fresh.

How would you describe your approach to winemaking, and why is this important to you?
CL. Understand the grapes first, where they are grown and what the attributes of vineyard site have on the fruit flavours then the winemaking is about promoting that. This is important to me as it’s not about making the fruit from different sites the same way, manipulate your winemaking to work with the fruit.

What bottle, vintage or campaign are you most proud of and why?
CL. I am extremely passionate about the 2010 Brown Brothers Patricia Extended Lees. This wine spent 12 years in our cellars maturing before its release. It is a great example of what can be done when you are passionate and patient in winemaking.

How does it feel to have won the 2026 Halliday Wine Companion People's Choice Award?
CL. Receiving the People's Choice Award is a very important accolade for us as a team. As winemakers, we work closely with our cellar door, restaurant and experience team to go above and beyond the expectations of our visitors to our home in Milawa. We offer experiences such as 'secret life of a winemaker' where guests can come and see behind the scenes of the winery, and we take visitors out to our 'Kindergarten Winery', designed for innovation and experimentation, where we explore new grape varieties in pursuit of fresh styles.

Shop Cate's Brown Brothers wines here

Top image credit: Brown Brothers

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