James Halliday's top 20 white wines under $30

Below you'll find James Halliday's top 20 white wines under $30. The 20 wines span riesling, semillon, sauvignon blanc (and blends of the two), chardonnay, and other whites including marsanne, pinot gris, fiano, grüner veltliner, piquepoul and a blend of grenache blanc, grenache gris, clairette and piquepoul. 

Majella Coonawarra Riesling 2023

Riesling was once a dominant player in Coonawarra, and this is a reminder of its quality in good vintages, which 2023 provided in spades. A very expressive display of lime, white stone fruit and Granny Smith apple, acidity providing a cleansing finish and aftertaste.
93 points | $19 | 12% alc. | Drink to 2033 | Halliday profile | Majella Wines

2023 Taylors Estate Label Clare Valley Riesling

Taylors’ large estate plantings allow it to make rieslings at this low price, with precisely balanced lime, lemon and apple held together with balancing acidity. And, like all good rieslings, it will live for years, gaining depth and texture as it ages.
94 points | $22 | 12% alc | Drink to 2038 | Haliday profile | Taylors Wines

2023 West Cape Howe Mount Barker Riesling

The 45-year-old Langton Vineyard takes its name from the southernmost point of Western Australia, the wine coming from the best blocks on the vineyard. The perfumed, lime-infused bouquet is exceptional, the precisely calibrated palate rounding off a beautifully sculpted wine.
95 points | $22 | 12% alc. | Drink to 2043 | Halliday profile | West Cape Howe Wines

2023 3 Drops Great Southern Riesling

Great Southern Riesling is a superb example of the variety thanks to the natural balance of varietal fruit flavours and shimmering acidity, perfectly captured by winemaker Rob Diletti. Add in purity and you have this wine. What more could anyone ask for?
94 points | $27 | 12% alc. | Drink to 2033 | Halliday profile | 3 Drops

2023 Best’s Great Western Riesling

Victoria’s Great Western region is firmly established as one of the most consistent riesling growers (outside of traditional regions). Whiplash-fast out of the blocks, with its mix of citrus, apple and slate to the fore, this wine will coast through to 2034.
95 points | $27 | 11.5% alc. | Drink to 2034 | Halliday profile | Best's Wines

2023 Rieslingfreak No. 4 Riesling

This is sourced from vineyards across the southern ranges of the Eden Valley. It stands out for its marriage of intensity and finesse, with a mouth-watering array of lime juice and silvery acidity flavours, the balance and length beyond reproach.
96 points | $28 | 12% alc. | Drink to 2043 | Halliday profile | Rieslingfreak

2023 Kerrigan + Berry Mt Barker Great Southern Riesling

Industry veterans Michael Kerrigan and Gavin Berry secure the grapes for this wine from the Langton Vineyard planted in 1975 on a cool, south-facing slope. The core of lime/lemon fruit has a coat of tinkling acidity that shines on the lingering finish.
94 points | $30 | 12% alc. | Drink to 2033 | Halliday profile | Kerrigan + Berry

2023 Pewsey Vale Vineyard Prima 23GR Single Vineyard Estate Eden Valley Riesling

This early-picked dessert wine riesling offers natural levels of acidity and residual sugar requiring no adjustment, and it is every bit as refreshing as intended. It literally dances in the mouth, and will do so for years.
96 points | $30 | 9% alc. | Drink to 2029 | Halliday profile | Pewsey Vale

2023 De Iuliis Hunter Valley Semillon

The moody Hunter weather threatened, but the rain stopped, the soil allowed harvesters onto the vines – and the quality of this super-expressive lemon, apple and lanolin fruit had its life to live, and transformed itself from chrysalis to resplendent butterfly.
95 points | $30 | 11% alc. | Drink to 2043 | Halliday profile | De Iuliis

2023 Deep Woods Estate Margaret River Sauvignon Blanc

There’s a special bond between place and variety that, here, creates a style unmatched elsewhere in Australia. The partial barrel ferment of a richly flavoured mix of snow pea, citrus and passionfruit has a refreshing undercarriage of polished acidity.
95 points | $25 | 12.5% alc. | Drink to 2026 | Halliday profile | Deep Woods

2023 Flametree Margaret River Sauvignon Blanc Semillon

Margaret River has a chokehold on SBS blends, with or without oak (the latter as here) and regardless of the percentage of the components. This wine is typical, full to the brim of citrus, stone fruit and passionfruit, but doesn’t cloy.
94 points | $25 | 12.5% alc. | Drink to 2026 | Halliday profile | Flametree

2022 Hoddles Creek Estate Yarra Valley Chardonnay

It’s nigh on impossible to match Hoddles Creek Estate’s marriage of fastidious vineyard care and handling in the winery, Franco D’Anna pulling the levers at precisely the right moment. There is a strictly limited introduction of oak without any sense of loss.
95 points | $25 | 13.2% alc. | Drink to 2030 | Halliday profile | Hoddles Creek Estate

2022 Hay Shed Hill Margaret River Chardonnay

This is a first-class estate chardonnay from a great vintage, using the best free-run juice fermented in French barriques and matured therein for 11 months. The richness of the white peach and melon fruit gives rise to classic each-way drinking options.
97 points, $30, 12.5% alc. | Drink to 2032 | Halliday profile | Hay Shed Hill

2017 Tahbilk Museum Release Marsanne

A flowery honeysuckle perfume translates into a delicious mouthfeel, minerally acidity subdued by a generous serving of lime, Granny Smith apple and guava fruits. Once it has reached the plateau of its overall flavour, it will coast for another three to five years.
95 points | $25 | 12% alc. | Drink to 2030 | Halliday profile | Tahbilk

2022 Handpicked Regional Selections Mornington Peninsula Pinot Gris

The variety is at its best in cool regions, the cooler the better. Mornington Peninsula and Tasmania lead the pack, here with fermentation and brief maturation in steel and oak, its floral nature given every chance to shine.
95 points | $29 | 12.8% alc. | Drink to 2027 | Halliday profile | Handpicked Wines

2023 Bremerton Special Release Langhorne Creek Fiano

This southern Italian variety is the best white grape to come onto the market for many years. It has a natural textural framework to go beside its fragrant lemon curd and fig flavours. Its length and acidity will stand it in good stead if cellared.
95 points | $26 | 12.5% alc. | Drink 2027 | Halliday profile | Bremerton

2023 Oliver’s Taranga Vineyards McLaren Vale Fiano

This is one of the best fianos going around these days. It has the rare quality of a white wine with inbuilt texture and structure, its flavours ranging from savoury to lemony.
95 points | $28 | 12.5% alc. | Drink to 2029 | Halliday profile | Oliver's Taranga

2023 Longview Vineyard Macclesfield Adelaide Hills Grüner Veltliner

Hmm. Isn’t this something? It has a dusting of white pepper on the bouquet, the palate with quite wonderful flavour and a glorious texture, thanks in part to near-invisible tannins. Bosc pear and a hint of dried apricot are sidelines.
97 points | $30 | 12.5% alc. | Drink to 2033 | Halliday profile | Longview Vineyard

2023 Coriole McLaren Vale Piquepoul

Piquepoul is known for its retention of acidity in the hot Mediterranean climate of southern France, and it brings that quality to McLaren Vale, where the Lloyd family regards it as a favourite variety. Its acidity is coupled with a lemony flavour in this iteration.
93 points | $28 | 11.8% alc. | Drink to 2029 | Halliday profile | Coriole

2022 Dune El Beyda

A blend of grenache blanc, grenache gris, clairette and piquepoul. Well, that does it; a white wanting to be a red, maybe. It’s full to its eyeballs with spices more often encountered with red wines. Over-extracted? Perhaps, but it rightens the yacht, and we all lurch forward.
94 points | $28 | 12% alc. | Drink to 2029 | Halliday profile | Dune Wine

See the complete list of Top 100 wines.

James Halliday’s Top 100 features in The Weekend Australian Magazine.

Some wines in this year's selection also feature on this site with notes by other Tasting Team members – as reviewed for Halliday Wine Companion.