RUTHERGLEN winery All Saints Estate has been named the winner of Fortified Wine of the Year, in the 2026 Halliday Wine Companion Awards.

The All Saints Estate Museum Muscadelle NV, Rutherglen scored 100 points; the only varietal winner of 17 to receive a perfect score.

All Saints Estate also retained a perfect score of 100 points for its NV Museum Muscat, making All Saints Estate the only winery in Australia to attain two perfectly scored wines in the Halliday Wine Companion.

They were made by fourth-generation winemaker Nicholas Brown, who oversees all winemaking and viticulture for All Saints Estate and its sister properties.

The 2026 Halliday Wine Companion Awards recognise the nation’s top wines, winemakers, viticulturists and wineries.

The awards ceremony held in Melbourne featured a first look at the 2026 Halliday Wine Companion and revealed winners across seven major categories, including Winery of the Year - Brokenwood, (Hunter Valley, NSW), Winemaker of the Year - Virginia Willcock of Vasse Felix (Margaret River, WA) and Viticulturist of the Year – Dr Dylan Grigg, Vinya Vella and Meristem Viticulture (Barossa Valley, SA).

Halliday also honoured Brian Croser, a new inductee into the James Halliday Hall of Fame: Australian Wine Industry.

Over 7000 wines were reviewed for the 2026 Companion, with Victoria winning more varietal awards than any other state for this edition, including Pinot Noir of the Year, Pinot Gris/Grigio of the Year, Fortified of the Year, Rosé of the Year and Cabernet and Blends of the Year.

Award winners were determined collaboratively by the Halliday tasting team including Dave Brookes, Jane Faulkner, Jeni Port, Katrina Butler, Marcus Ellis, Mike Bennie, Philip Rich, Shanteh Wale and Toni Paterson MW.

All Saints Estate was the only North East Victorian winery to feature in this year's winners list, with renowned wine writer Jeni Port describing the Museum Muscadelle as “the stuff of dreams or, to be precise, history" saying "with base wines reaching back 100 plus years, this offers a rare and privileged taste of extraordinary age, complexity and sheer hedonistic pleasure.”

Best New Winery went to Elanto Vineyard (Mornington Peninsula, VIC) and Wine of the Year to Thistledown Wines This Charming Man Single Vineyard Clarendon Grenache 2024 (McLaren Vale, SA).