2026 Halliday Top Rated

The best riesling in Australia for 2026

By The Tasting Team

The Leo Buring DWB17 Leonay Riesling 2024 has been named the best riesling in Australia.

The Halliday Wine Companion Awards celebrate the top wines in Australia – as chosen by our esteemed wine critics who spend the year tasting and reviewing wine from across the country. Below, you'll find Australia's best riesling wines, along with the ratings awarded by the Tasting Team. Members can also click through for each riesling's detailed review.

But before you dive into the exhaustive list of Australia's best riesling wines, you can check out the current winner of our Riesling of the Year award – the 2024 DWB17 Leonay Riesling from Leo Buring.

This was a landslide victory for Leo Buring and for the Eden Valley. It was the only riesling from the region represented in the final judge-off, among a handful of other strong contenders from the Clare Valley, Orange, Henty, Grampians, Bendigo and Strathbogie Ranges. At a time when value is so important, look to the below when adding your next purchases to cart.
 

2026 Best Riesling of the Year in Australia

Leo Buring DWB17 Leonay Riesling 2024

98 points | Price when tasted $40


Rieslingfreak No. 12 Riesling 2023, Eden Valley

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Leo Buring Leonay. The mention of that name is enough to get any riesling lover standing to attention. Named after winemaker and the rather awesomely monikered Leo Buring Hermann Paul Leopold Buring. Anyone that has said "Winemaking isn't a matter of life or death – it's much more important than that!" is OK by me. The wine is a singularity of limey goodness. Bickford's lime cordial, freshly squeezed lime juice and green apple sorbet with hints of Christmas lily, clover blossom, crushed quartz and lemongrass. Precise and focused with a tubular core pushed across the palate by fine, vivid acidity with an umami blush on the exit. If there was a Mount Rushmore for Aussie riesling, old Leo's smiling face would be the first to be chiseled into the granite. – Dave Brookes

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The 2026 Halliday Wine Companion is available now. Secure your copy of Australia's most comprehensive wine guide at all good bookstores.

This is an edited extract from the 2026 Halliday Wine Companion, with reviews by Dave Brookes, Jane Faulkner, Jeni Port, Katrina Butler, Marcus Ellis, Mike Bennie, Philip Rich, Shanteh Wale and Toni Paterson MW. Cover art by James Coe.


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