Fighting Gully Road has been included in the Halliday Wine Companion’s Top 100 Wineries of 2026, earning a place at number 89 celebrating Australia’s leading wine producers.
The annual Top 100 recognises the wineries shaping Australian wine today, from established names to smaller, independent producers. It acknowledges not only exceptional wines, but also consistency across a winery’s range, industry contribution, mentorship and sustainable practices in the vineyard, winery and wider business.
For Fighting Gully Road, the inclusion is welcome recognition of the work that goes into making wines of character and quality in Beechworth. Winemaker and viticulturist Mark Walpole has long championed the region’s potential, drawing on its distinctive growing conditions to produce wines that reflect their origins.
The Halliday Top 100 is not simply a ranking of high-scoring bottles. Wineries must have had wines reviewed by the Halliday Wine Companion in the preceding 12 months, with the final selection considering the quality and consistency of the current range, contribution to the industry and commitment to sustainable practices. The below is what general manager and tasting manager Katrina Butler noted:
“Mark Walpole is a quiet man, but his wise words are stored up and referenced by peers worldwide. He secured his elevated, north-facing site south of Beechworth on Fighting Gully Road in 1995, and planted the first vines in ’97. He named the vineyard Aquila Audax, referencing the majestic Australian wedge-tailed eagles that circle above. It’s a breathtaking site, with a panoramic view of the region he knows so well. Cabernet sauvignon and pinot noir came first, followed by sangiovese, tempranillo, shiraz, petit manseng and chardonnay. Few would argue against Fighting Gully Road Sangiovese as Australia’s benchmark for the variety, and the scores back the claims. Both the 2023 Block 02 Sangiovese and the 2025 Sangiovese scored 96 points, although offer quite different expressions. Jeni Port describes Block 02 as a “brand new world of sangiovese”, with “power, intensity and grace”, its dark fruit and savoury characters framed by tight, sinewy tannins. The 2025, with its dry and hot growing season, is more layered and savoury, with dried herbs, black pepper, sun-dried tomato and earth alongside redcurrant, cherry and plum, finishing with “some sangiovese attitude”. The 2024 Chardonnay and 2023 Smith Vineyard Chardonnay each scored 95, showing the region’s acclaim for the variety. In 2009, Fighting Gully Road leased the region’s oldest vineyard, planted by the Smith family in ’78 to chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon. The 2024 Halliday Viticulturist of the Year brings the same passion to vineyards as artists bring to new mediums: the higher elevation and cooler conditions of his most recent acquisition in the neighbouring Stanley region, within the Beechworth GI, bring new opportunities and room for nuance within farming across sites – namely his ambition to establish Australia’s first plantings of petit arvine. The first releases look incredibly hopeful. Fighting Gully Road remains a remarkably small operation. Still, its influence is growing; it’s a brand that has unlocked discoveries via commitment to varietal innovation and challenges what Australian wine can be.”
The list celebrates producers of all sizes, from emerging small-scale wineries to established Australian names. Fighting Gully Road’s inclusion places the winery among a diverse group helping shape the future of Australian wine.
It’s a pleasing acknowledgement of the ongoing work at Fighting Gully Road, and of the quality and individuality that Beechworth continues to bring to the Australian wine landscape.
View the Top 100 Wines from this years Halliday Wine Companion here.