Wine region newcomer Stones + Thunder vineyard scores top gong in 2024 Halliday Cabernet Challenge

One of the region’s newest wineries has been singled out for a prestigious win in this year’s James Halliday Chardonnay and Cabernet Challenge.

Wilyabrup vintners Stones + Thunder claimed the prize for the Margaret River region’s best chardonnay in the annual tastings despite only being established in 2021.

The Halliday challenge this year did tastings based at the McHenry Hohnen winery scoring the country’s best chardonnay-producing regions.

The best region awards were handed out to wines scoring 95 points or higher, with 13 accolades poured out nationwide, along with seven prizes for cabernet.

The 2024 James Halliday Australian Chardonnay & Cabernet Challenge judges included judging talent from across the country, led by chair of judges Adam Wadewitz from Shaw + Smith in South Australia and Tolpuddle in Tasmania.

The win for Stones + Thunder was a minor upset, given South African founder Darran Stone only moved to the region in 2018.

Fruit for his 2023 Calm Before The Storm chardonnay was hand harvested from the producer’s single vineyard in Wilyabrup, whole bunch-pressed and then barrel-fermented in 40 per cent new French oak barrels.

Stone said no malolactic fermentation was allowed, with the wine ageing on the lees for 10 months.

“Simon West, Albert Haak, Colin Bell and Kim Horton have all been immensely influential in helping Stones + Thunder become what it is today,” the vigneron told the Times.

“We have now bottled the first vintages of the three wines that make up the Stones + Thunder brand . . . and I am absolutely thrilled by the incredible start we have achieved.”

Judges scored the wine for its “lovely complexity, finesse, length, and beauty” and awarded it 96 points.

“Winning this trophy is an incredibly inspiring achievement for us,” Stone said.

“To receive this recognition on our very first release is mind-blowing. We can scarcely believe it.

“We put our heart and soul into this special vineyard and are ecstatic that the quality of Wilyabrup was able to shine through so strongly in this wine.”

While travelling between China and Vietnam, Stone told the Times he had next to no network within the Australian wine industry when he first started, despite a Bachelor of Science in oenology from Stellenbosch University.

“I applied for and was accepted into the Wine Industry Mentor Program, which was a great springboard for me to meet the amazing people that have each played an integral part in my story so far,” he said.

“I decided to found Stones + Thunder driven by a desire to craft wines that were more than just a product, but a narrative of adventure, family and a true expression of an incredible Wilyabrup vineyard.”