Royal Adelaide Wine Show winners represent best of Aussie wine
Food & Wine
Judges in the Royal Adelaide Wine Show had their work cut out for them this year after wineries across Australia entered more than 2800 wines despite the impact on the industry of fires, drought, and COVID-19.
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South Australian and Western Australian wine producers have dominated this year’s Royal Adelaide Wine Show, taking out 17 of the 23 top honours between them.
South Australian labels were awarded 10 trophies in total, including the coveted Outstanding Wine of Provenance prize, which went to Clare Valley’s Leo Buring for their Leonay Riesling (2020, 2015, 2005).
Another Riesling – Henschke’s Julius Riesling 2017 – took out the Best South Australian White Wine trophy, as well as the trophy for the Best Riesling In Show.
Producers from Margaret River in Western Australia were honoured with the awards for both the best red and white wines overall.
Flametree’s SRS Wallcliffe Chardonnay 2019 won the George Fairbrother trophy for Most Outstanding White Wine In Show, and Blackstone’s Cabernet Sauvignon 2018 took out the Max Schubert trophy for Most Outstanding Red Wine In Show.
Another Margaret River winery, Deep Woods Estate, won two trophies, for Best Dry White Blend and Best Other Red Blend, backing up their four trophy haul at last year’s Royal Adelaide Wine Show.
The Adelaide Hills were also strongly represented, with Riposte Wines winning the Sauvignon Blanc class with The Foil 2020, Wines by Geoff Hardy taking out Best Other Varietal White with their Gruner Veltliner 2019, and Deviation Road securing the trophy for Best Sparkling with their Beltana Blanc de Blancs 2013 – a bottle of which will set you back about $95.
There are winners at all price points, however, including the Signature Series McLaren Vale G-19 Grenache 2019 from Robert Oatley, which won the Best Grenache and Best South Australian Red Wine trophies and costs about $23 per bottle.
Other South Australian red wines to win trophies included Generations Malbec 2019 from Bleasdale, which won the Best Other Varietal Red class, and the Cabernet Shiraz 2018 from St Hugo, which took out the Best Traditional Australian Red Blend prize.
Trophy winners beat a total field of more than 2800 entries in this year’s Royal Adelaide Wine Show – the highest number of entries since 2012.
There are plenty of other winners too, with 179 entries taking out gold medals, 330 winning silver and 880 awarded bronze.
Judging took place over five days, with 30 judges across six panels sampling all wines “blind”, and re-tasting the very best wines to determine the gold medallists and trophy winners.
The increase in entries, and new precautions imposed to keep judges and staff safe from COVID-19, presented unique challenges.
Judging in the time of COVID-19 added some challenges to tasting more than 2800 wines.
A fifth day of judging was added so that the 30 judges across six panels could manage the increased volume, with each judge sampling about 120 wines a day for four days to determine the gold, silver and bronze medal winners.
To minimise the risk of COVID-19 transmission, stewards and anyone handling wine wore masks and gloves, and a new machine was installed to dry the more than 5000 glasses washed each day so that they did not have to be dried by hand.
Organisers also utilised the expansive pavilions at the Adelaide Showgrounds to space judges further apart, and thorough wash-downs were performed between the judging of each class and at the end of the day.
Committee Chair Greg Follett said the judging process was rigorous and trophy winners should be proud of their achievement.
“For a wine to get up for a trophy one of the judges had to really like it in the beginning,” said Follett.
“Then when it is called back it has to be liked by a lot of judges and brought forward… and then it has to get ahead of the other wines that have made it into that gold medal range, and then all the judges have to run through it again to pull it up for a trophy, so there’s a lot of checks and balances for a wine to get up to that level.
“However any medal in a show is a good achievement.
“(For those) who haven’t won a medal, that doesn’t mean it’s a bad wine… it’s a huge process… and it’s subjective and everyone’s palette is a little bit different.”
The list of winners:
THE HURTLE AND NORMAN WALKER TROPHY for BEST SPARKLING WINE IN SHOW
Sponsored by Vinocor
Beltana Blanc de Blancs 2013
Deviation Road (SA)
THE JOHN FORNACHON MEMORIAL TROPHY for BEST APERA, TOPAQUE, MUSCAT OR SWEET WHITE IN SHOW
Sponsored by Orora Closures
Old Premium Rare Muscat
Morris (VIC)
THE INDAILY TROPHY for BEST AUSTRALIAN VINTAGE, TAWNY OR RUBY IN SHOW
Sponsored by InDaily
Old Premium Rare Tawny
Morris (VIC)
THE BRAUD AUSTRALIA TROPHY BEST SWEET WHITE TABLE WINE
Sponsored by Braud Australia
Deen De Bortoli Botrytis Semillon 2017
De Bortoli (NSW)
THE AUSTRALIAN WINE RESEARCH INSTITUTE COMMERCIAL SERVICES TROPHY for BEST RIESLING IN SHOW
Sponsored by AWRI Commercial Services
Julius Riesling 2017
Henschke (SA)
THE ARKABA CELLARS TROPHY BEST SAUVIGNON BLANC IN SHOW
Sponsored by Arkaba Hotel
The Foil Sauvignon Blanc 2020
Riposte Wines (SA)
THE FINLAYSONS TROPHY BEST SEMILLON IN SHOW
Sponsored by Finlaysons
Lovedale Semillon 2014
Mount Pleasant (NSW)
THE SEGUIN MOREAU TROPHY BEST CHARDONNAY IN SHOW
Sponsored by Seguin Moreau Australasia
SRS Wallcliffe Chardonnay 2019
Flametree (WA)
THE BDO TROPHY BEST DRY WHITE BLEND
Sponsored by BDO
Ivory Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2020
Deep Woods Estate (WA)
THE PROGRAMMED PROPERTY SERVICES TROPHY BEST OTHER VARIETAL WHITE
Sponsored by Programmed Property Services Limited
Gruner Veltliner 2019
Wines by Geoff Hardy (SA)
THE PIPER ALDERMAN TROPHY for BEST ROSÉ
Sponsored by Piper Alderman
DJL Rosé 2020
Xanadu (WA)
THE LALLEMAND AUSTRALIA TROPHY BEST PINOT NOIR IN SHOW
Sponsored by Lallemand Australia Pty Ltd
Estate Pinot Noir 2019
Pipers Brook (TAS)
THE TILBROOK RASHEED TROPHY BEST GRENACHE
Sponsored by Tilbrook Rasheed
Signature Series McLaren Vale G-19 Grenache 2019
Robert Oatley (SA)
THE RADOUX AUSTRALIA TROPHY BEST OTHER RED BLEND
Sponsored by Radoux Australia
Shiraz Et Al 2019
Deep Woods Estate (WA)
THE KARL SEPPELT AO TROPHY BEST OTHER VARIETAL RED
Sponsored by Mr David C Dridan OAM and Integrated Precision Viticulture
Generations Malbec 2019
Bleasdale (SA)
PROFESSOR AJ PERKINS TROPHY BEST CABERNET SAUVIGNON IN SHOW
Sponsored by Vili’s
Cabernet Sauvignon 2018
Blackstone Paddock (WA)
THE DR RAY BECKWITH OAM MEMORIAL TROPHY BEST TRADITIONAL AUSTRALIAN RED BLEND
Sponsored by Fassina Liquor
Cabernet Shiraz 2018
St Hugo (SA)
THE WINE COMMUNICATORS OF AUSTRALIA, SA CHAPTER TROPHY BEST SHIRAZ IN SHOW
Sponsored by Wine Communicators of Australia, SA Chapter
Shiraz 2018
Montrose (NSW)
THE GRAMP, HARDY, HILL SMITH PRIZE for OUTSTANDING WINE OF PROVENANCE
Sponsored by F. Miller & Co.
Leonay Riesling (2020, 2015, 2005)
Leo Buring (SA)
THE GOVERNOR’S TROPHY for BEST SOUTH AUSTRALIAN WHITE WINE IN SHOW
Julius Riesling 2017
Henschke (SA)
THE GOVERNOR’S TROPHY for BEST SOUTH AUSTRALIAN RED WINE IN SHOW
Signature Series McLaren Vale G-19 Grenache 2019
Robert Oatley (SA)
THE MAX SCHUBERT AM TROPHY for MOST OUTSTANDING RED WINE IN SHOW
Sponsored by the CCL Label
Cabernet Sauvignon 2018
Blackstone Paddock (WA)
THE GEORGE FAIRBROTHER MEMORIAL TROPHY for MOST OUTSTANDING WHITE WINE IN SHOW
Sponsored by Duxton Capital Australia
SRS Wallcliffe Chardonnay 2019
Flametree (WA)
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