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Aphelion Named in Halliday Wine Companion’s Top 100 Wineries of Australia
Louise Rhodes
Oct 22, 2025
Aphelion Named in Halliday Wine Companion’s Top 100 Wineries of Australia
We’re thrilled — and humbled — to share that Aphelion Wine Co. has been named #35 in the 2025 James Halliday Wine Companion Top 100 Wineries of Australia.
See the full list of Top 26–50 Wineries here.
About the Halliday Wine Companion Awards
As the Halliday Wine Companion explains:
“The Halliday Wine Companion Top 100 Wineries is a celebration of the best Australian producers of right now. It acknowledges the movers and shakers as much as the stalwarts — the wineries who consistently produce exceptional wines and, in some cases, memorable cellar door experiences. The names on this list never rest on their laurels – they constantly strive for better, in their winery, their vineyards, with their growers, and their regions. These are the producers shaping Australia’s modern wine landscape and ensuring its future.”
Learn more about what it takes to make the Halliday Top 100 Wineries list.
The article also shares that:
“The Top 100 all put the same care into everything they make, from affordable everyday wines to their flagships. They make passionate, heartfelt wines. And it matters to them that people engage with their wines, that they take joy from them. These makers are the best of the best. They are names that resonate with excellence.”
This feels especially true for us at Aphelion Wine Co. in McLaren Vale. We make wines to be part of life’s memorable moments — the dinners, celebrations, and quiet pauses that make life richer.
Hearing how you enjoy our wines — whether at your local wine bar, on holiday, or around the family table — truly lights us up. One of our favourite stories is from a customer who bought a bottle of Confluence Grenache for his son-in-law… who then promptly hid in the pantry away from the kids to savour it!
From One Tonne to Top 100
Our journey began in 2014 with a single tonne of McLaren Vale Grenache from Marsh Brini — hand-bottled, corked, and labelled with the help of friends.
To Marsh Brini, who trusted us from the beginning - thank you. To Robyn Wait & family, the Hatwells, and Yangarra - your sustainable care of the land and vines is the quiet strength behind every bottle we make.
Today, Aphelion has grown into a small but mighty McLaren Vale winery with a cellar door 14 months young and a portfolio of new small-batch releases we can’t wait to share. Rob Mack is now a Master of Wine student, and together we remain guided by our original vision - crafting wines that express a true sense of place.
In Marcus Ellis’ Words
“Rob and Louise Mack’s shared epiphany may have been over a bottle of Barolo (on a cruise ship, no less), but it was Grenache that became their pole star. Corporate refugees, the pair launched Aphelion in 2014 with a frugal parcel of grapes and even less money. A decade on, it is in the pantheon with a handful of other great Grenache disruptors — a cohort who saw something most of us couldn’t, but forged on tirelessly to co-write one of wine’s great modern stories.”
“The 2024 Grenache wines from Aphelion are mesmerisingly good - world-class wines of inimitable character. Aphelion’s poetic perihelion, if you will. Not only that, but Chenin Blanc from this address is also consistently topflight, so too the democratically affordable Welkin range. Aphelion has consistently produced excellence, but the recent releases see them stroll into the Top 100.”
(From Marcus Ellis, Halliday Wine Companion – Top 26–50 Wineries)
Here’s to What’s Next
From that first hand-labelled bottle to a place among Australia’s Top 100, this journey has always been about collaboration - with our growers, our community, and everyone who’s ever raised a glass of Aphelion wine.
We’re celebrating the milestone the best way we know how: with a glass in hand. 🍾
Visit our McLaren Vale cellar door this week for a complimentary taste of bubbles and a warm welcome.
Let’s Celebrate Together
For those who collect wine to gift, share, or cellar - Aphelion wines are small-batch, site-expressive, and conversation-starting.
If you’re looking to elevate your next corporate celebration, client gift, or award event with wines that impress, connect, and tell a story worth sharing, we’d love to help curate something unforgettable.
Email us your enquiry at hello@aphelionwine.com.au
Aphelion Wine Co. - Wines of purity, texture, and place, from McLaren Vale, South Australia.
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