THE region’s wine industry gathered at Craigmoor Pavilion on Friday for the 46th Mudgee Wine Show trophy presentation dinner.
Five judges (Mike DeGaris, Sue Hodder, James Manners, Andrew Ling, Jake Sheedy) from the central west spent three days at the Australian Rural Education Centre scrutinising over 340 wines in 29 classes.
Wine consultant Mike DeGaris chaired the Show saying the event, “continues to grow in numbers and quality.”
“There was an impressive 203 medals awarded, including 12 Top Gold, 28 Gold, 50 Silver and 113 Bronze medals.”
The coveted trophy – or Champion Wine of Show – went to the 2016 Westcourt Wines Riesling.
Winemaker Malcom Roth accepted the honour by thanking the Mudgee wine industry and his predecessors. The Riesling also took out Most Outstanding White Wine.
“The Riesling classes were particularly strong,” Mr DeGaris said.
“Every wine in the aged Riesling class was a winner. It’s pleasing to see some very strong styles.
“The winemakers are paying detailed attention to their winemaking with very well grown fruit. It revealed a hallmark of the region that these wines can age so gracefully. Westcourt Wines, Robert Stein, Moothi, Bunnamagoo and Lowe are all championing the variety with fantastic results.”
As well as the trophies for best varietals, a new award was introduced, Winemaker of the Year. The inaugural winner of the prestigious award was Robert Stein chief winemaker, Jacob Stein.
The Pipeclay Lane vineyard had a stellar night scoring trophies for Most Successful Exhibitor (most top gold, gold, silver, and bronze awards), Best Semillon, and Best Museum White Wine Perpetual Trophy.
In the red wine classes, Mudgee’s Shiraz continued to shine.
“This is a consistently awarded class. The top wines showcased the different regional styles,” Mr DeGaris said.
Huntington Estate took home the top honour in the red wine category – the Most Outstanding Red Wine trophy was awarded to the Huntington Estate 2014 Special Reserve Shiraz.
Mr DeGaris described the winning Shiraz as, “one of the top scoring wines of the show and a real flagship for the region.”
Huntington Estate received the most trophies of the night – Best Mudgee Classic Blend, Most Outstanding Fortified Wine, the Robert Stein Memorial Trophy for Best Shiraz.
Judging for the NSW Wine Awards will be held at the Mudgee Golf Club from Tuesday.
Results
- CHAMPION WINE: Westcourt Wines 2016 Riesling
- WINEMAKER OF THE YEAR: Jacob Stein
- MOST OUTSTANDING WHITE WINE: Westcourt Wines 2016 Riesling
- MOST OUTSTANDING RED WINE: Huntington Estate 2014 Special Reserve Shiraz
- BEST SPARKLING WINE: Not Awarded
- WINE SHOW MOST SUCCESSFUL EXHIBITOR: Robert Stein Winery
- BEST ORGANIC/BIODYNAMIC/PRESERVATIVE FREE WINE (Gil Wahlquist Perpetual): Lowe Wines 2013 Zinfandel
- BEST CABERNET (Dave Robertson Memorial): Naked Lady Wines 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon
- BEST SHIRAZ (Robert Stein Memorial): Huntington Estate 2014 Special Reserve Shiraz
- BEST RED WINE not shiraz, cabernet (Carlo Carino): Peterson’s of Mudgee 2015 Jamie Quatro
- BEST SEMILLON: Robert Stein Winery 2017 Semillon
- BEST CHARDONNAY (Bob Oatley): Robert Oatley Montrose 2015 Stony Creek
- BEST WHITE WINE not chardonnay, semillon: Westcourt Wines 2016 Riesling
- BEST MUSEUM WHITE WINE PERPETUAL: Robert Stein 2009 Riesling
- BEST MUSEUM RED: Bunnamagoo Estate Wines 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot
- MOST OUTSTANDING SWEET WINE for class 16, 17: Bunnamagoo Estate Wines 2016 Autumn Semillon
- MOST OUTSTANDING FORTIFIED WINE: Huntington Estate 2014 Vintage Fortified Shiraz
- BEST ROSE WINE: Lazy Oak Vineyard 2017 Rose
- BEST MUDGEE CLASSIC BLEND: Huntington Estate 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz
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- This story first appeared in the Mudgee Guardian.