Halliday Top 100 Wines 2026: Best Australian sparkling wines

Sparkling is arguably one of Australian wine’s most exciting categories. Not only do our already world-class bottlings get better with each release, but the producers and regions behind them become more diverse.

As well as the Adelaide Hills, Tasmania, Orange, the Yarra Valley and the King Valley, the 10 sparkling wines that the Halliday Tasting Team have named the best in the country for the 2026 Halliday Top 100 include expressions from Margaret River, the Hunter Valley and the Southern Highlands.

While only méthode traditionnelle wines made the list this year, and blanc de blancs dominates, there is variety in vintage and disgorgement dates. And, with nine of the 10 priced between $50 and $72, there’s excellent value to be found, too – especially when compared to Champagne.

Apogee Deluxe Vintage Brut 2022, Tasmania

Pale in the glass with a fine, energetic bead and mousse. Aromas of green apple and citrus fruits alongside hints of crushed shell, clover blossom, freshly baked pastries, shiitake, sea breeze, ozone, flint and stone. It's all about precision and tension on the palate, the fruit propelled forward on a rail of crystalline acidity, gaining velocity before resolving in a gentle fan of citrus, grilled nuts and fresh pastry. It's in wonderful form. – Dave Brookes

96 points | $72 | Agglomerate | 12.5% alc. | Apogee profile | Winery website | @apogeetasmania

Brown Brothers Patricia Pinot Noir Chardonnay Brut 2021, King Valley

The late Patricia 'Pat' Brown deserves to be honoured with nothing less than the best. Here it is. A top vintage, a top super-cool site at Whitlands that Brown Brothers helped pioneer, and the result is near perfection. A pristine purity of fruit lays at the heart of this effervescent beauty. White flowers, lemon, grapefruit citrus, white peach, apple, biscotti – it's a vision in white in aroma. A yeasty, bready complexity from four years on lees builds on the palate with an essence-like flavour, brisk and clean in white and wild dusty red berries, almond, biscuit, pastry and the liveliest of lemon sorbet tang brought to you courtesy of a coiled acid drive. A prodigy capable of so much more to come. – Jeni Port

97 points | $60 | Cork | 11.5% alc. | Brown Brothers profile | Winery website | @brownbrothers

Centennial Vineyards Lumiére Blanc de Blancs NV, Southern Highlands

Fruit is from Bowral, Southern Highlands. 80% of the blend comes from the 2019 vintage. Five years on lees, disgorged in December '24. A low dosage of 4g/L. There is a brilliance and opulence to the yellow tree fruit coming from the dry vintage. Pomelo, lemon cakes and honeysuckle. Some nectarine and saffron. Dosage is just right, not needing the boost as fruit is giving and powerful. Long lines of acidity and a stony, mineral finish. – Shanteh Wale

95 points | $50 | Spark | 12% alc. | Centennial Vineyards profile | Winery website | @centennialvineyards

Delamere Vineyards Blanc de Blancs 2018, Tasmania

100% chardonnay with a minimum of six years' tirage, first disgorgement August '25, 5g/L dosage. Light straw in the glass with a fine, energetic bead and mousse. Aromas of baked apple, lemon, grapefruit and white peach with hints of freshly baked brioche, crushed sea shells, meadow flowers, shortbread biscuits and gentle spice. As is always the case with Delamere wines, there's a pitch-perfect focus and a long draw of flavour as the wine retreats. The end point is dry, daubed with umami and downright delicious. – Dave Brookes

96 points | $70 | Agglomerate | 12.8% alc. | Delamere Vineyards profile | Winery website | @delamerevineyard

Georgia Dale XI.XI Blanc de Blancs 2022, King Valley

100% chardonnay from the lofty heights of the Whitlands. Méthode traditionnelle, four years on lees. Wow. An earth-shattering release from the sparkling Queen herself. The nose is teeming with apple, pink grapefruit, ashed goat's cheese, pretty white florals, cashew and freshly baked bread. It's enticing and neatly made, with balance the objective, as the palate and bead seamlessly unite a myriad of textures and flavours. Pithy grapefruit, skeins of salinity, a touch of wet quartz and a veil of citrus. The length is staggering. An exceptional release. – Katrina Butler

96 points | $60 | Cork | 12.5% alc. | Georgia Dale profile | Winery website | @georgiadalewines

Honey Moon Vineyard Méthode Traditionelle Classique Blanc de Blancs 2023, Adelaide Hills

Vibrant, intense, scintillating minerality and crisp, tight bubbles. Lots of perfume, some gentle savouriness, a touch of grip and pucker in texture, too. Lemon curd, lime mineral water, a slip of vanilla wafer, a little gummy coconut marshmallow character and a pulse of saline minerality. Framed as an aperitif style, or so it seems, and done with aplomb. An excellent sparkling wine. – Mike Bennie

95 points | $55 | Cork | 12% alc. | Honey Moon Vineyard profile | Winery website | @honeymoonvineyard

Idée Fixe Premier Brut Blanc de Blancs Méthode Traditionnelle 2023, Margaret River

When Paul Holmes à Court wanted to add a sparkling enterprise, a separate operation to Vasse Felix but an adjunct of sorts, I thought, 'What?' Now I just drink the fizz. It’s excellent, and since Brendan Carr, ex-Xanadu, took over a few years ago, quality continues to grow. This fizz is a light straw gold with plenty of bead, and while the chardonnay flavours come to the fore, it has some complexing autolytic notes: shortbread and buttered toast with lemon curd. Crisp, dry and long, the dosage is well judged, so this has a certain refinement. Disgorged April '25. – Jane Faulkner

95 points | $58 | Diam | 12% alc. | Idée Fixe profile | Winery website | @ideefixe.official

Terre à Terre Daosa Late Disgorged Blanc de Blancs 2017, Adelaide Hills

From a single site – the Bizot family vineyard. All chardonnay. Barrel maturation employed. A foamy texture belies the detail of fruit, spice, savoury oak seasoning and freshness here. Summer fruits, biscuits and bread, toast and cinnamon and honey and marshmallow and ginger. Intense, saline acidity and bristling, tight and fine bubbles. A little glossiness of intensity even with the freshness. It's rich but lively, coursing with energy and yet shows off the mature fruit and secondary characters so well. A kaleidoscopic experience, per se. Just straight-up fantastic, and a world beater. – Mike Bennie

96 points | $180 | Diam | 12.9% alc. | Terre à Terre profile | Winery website | @daosa_sparkling

Winmark Wines Biosis Blanc de Blancs Chardonnay 2023, Hunter Valley

Named after a David Ball sculpture on the Winmark Broke Fordwich vineyard. This is an excellent sparkling wine that shows the strength of the '23 vintage. Fragrant, fine and detailed from the first pour. It’s a wine of brightness and finesse, built on a solid core of fruit that's balanced by gentle savouriness. Gorgeous lemon, subtle baked bread, oatmeal and yoghurt. It is not overdone or overworked in any way and exemplifies the synergy of great fruit and respectful winemaking. Simply fabulous. – Toni Paterson MW

95 points | $65 | Cork | 11.5% alc. | Winmark Wines profile | Winery website | @winmarkwines

Yarra Yering Sparkling Cuvée 2018, Yarra Valley

60/40% pinot meunier/chardonnay. Six years on lees. 3g/L RS. A new blend for Yarra Yering, and a very good one at that. Bright green gold. Subtle and complex aromas of freshly baked biscuit, lemon verbena and summer flowers. Flows evenly across the palate, finishing dry, saline and long. A beautifully put-together wine from go to whoa. Drink now and over the next four to six years. – Philip Rich

97 points | $65 | Crown | 12% alc. | Yarra Yering profile | Winery website | @yarra_yering