A MARGARET River Chardonnay has been named the Grand Champion Wine of Show at the Royal Queensland Wine Show (RQWS) Awards at the Brisbane Showgrounds today.
The Xanadu Wines Reserve Chardonnay 2015 has been described by chief judge David Bicknell as being “as good as any Chardonnay in the world.”
“It’s a beautifully balanced wine and it’s world class,” Mr Bicknell said.
“It’s no surprise Chardonnay took out the grand champion title because the nation’s winemakers are doing the variety so well.”
The Margaret River wine region in Western Australia continued to turn heads, with the historic Stodart Trophy for Best Young Red of Show going to Deep Woods Estate for their Estate Cabernet Merlot 2015.
This is the first time in recent history a Cabernet Merlot has taken out the trophy, with Shiraz usually dominating.
“This is an exceptional, classic wine,” Mr Bicknell said.
“We just couldn’t go past this wine - most of the judges voted for it as their first preference.
“With both the grand champion and Stodart Trophy, we saw the right varieties grown in the right places and made with sensitivity.”
A total of 1608 wines were received from 217 Australian wineries this year, with the 26 strong panel of expert judges pleased with the high quality of entries.
This is an exceptional, classic wine.
- David Bicknell.
“Most classes had real highlights and in particular there was real excitement around the alternate red varieties,” Mr Bicknell said.
“More winemakers are becoming familiar and better at dealing with these varieties which include Touriga, Malbec and Barbera.
“The quality of these alternate red wines were better than we saw last year and there were multiple standouts.”
The public will now have the rare chance to taste their way through the entries, including the trophy winners and new vintage of season, at tonight’s Royal Queensland Food and Wine Show (RQFWS) ‘Grape Grazing by Night – Celebrating Australian Wine’ event. Tickets to the event have sold out with more than 800 people attending.
2017 TROPHY AWARD WINNERS
THE MALDWYN AND IAN DAVIES BEST SPARKLING: House of Arras - Grand Vintage 2008.
BEST RIESLING: Peter Lehmann Wines - Wigan Riesling 2015.
BEST SEMILLON: Mount Pleasant - Lovedale 2009.
BEST SAUVIGNON BLANC OR SEMILLON & SAUVIGNON BLANC BLEND: Berrigan Wines - Class 19 Cat. No. 8 - Berrigan Mt Benson Sauvignon Blanc 2017.
THE AO FLEMING BEST CHARDONNAY: Xanadu Wines - Xanadu Reserve Chardonnay 2015.
BEST PINOT GRIS: Brown Brothers Milawa Vineyard - Devil's Corner Pinot Grigio 2016.
BEST SINGLE WHITE VARIETAL: Symphony Hill Wines - Symphony Hill Wines Gewurztraminer 2016.
BEST SWEET WHITE: d'Arenberg - The Noble Botryotinia Fuckeliana 2015.
BEST YOUNG WHITE: Xanadu Wines - Xanadu Reserve Chardonnay 2015.
BEST MATURE WHITE: Mount Pleasant - Lovedale 2009.
BEST SINGLE VINEYARD WHITE: Xanadu Wines - Xanadu Reserve Chardonnay 2015.
RNA BEST WHITE: Xanadu Wines - Xanadu Reserve Chardonnay 2015.
BEST ROSE: Shingleback - Aficionado Rose 2017.
BEST PINOT NOIR: Agnew Wines - Pooles Rock Pinot Noir 2016.
BEST GRENACHE, RED RHONE VARIETAL OR BLENDS: Shingleback - Red Knot Grenache Shiraz Mourvedre 2016.
ALAN COOK MBE TROPHY BEST MERLOT, CABERNET SAUVIGNON OR CABERNETS BLENDS: Deep Woods Estate - Estate Cabernet Merlot 2015.
WINE GUILD OF AUSTRALIA (QUEENSLAND) BEST SHIRAZ/CABERNET BLEND: Bleasdale Vineyards - Wellington Road Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon 2015.
BEST SINGLE RED VARIETAL: McWilliam's Wines Group - Hanwood 1913 2016.
BEST SHIRAZ: Brokenwood Wines - 2015 Brokenwood Wines Wade Block 2 Shiraz 2015.
BEST RED BLEND: Saltram Wine Estate - Saltram Estate Shiraz Tempranillo 2016.
BEST SINGLE VINEYARD RED: Brokenwood Wines - 2015 Brokenwood Wines Wade Block 2 Shiraz 2015.
RNA BEST RED: Deep Woods Estate - Estate Cabernet Merlot 2015.
BEST FORTIFIED: Penfolds Wines - Penfolds Grandfather Rare Tawny NV.
COURIER-MAIL BEST QUEENSLAND WINE: Just Red Wines - Shiraz Viognier 2015.
LENDLEASE MOST SUCCESSFUL QUEENSLAND EXHIBITOR: Symphony Hill Wines.
DAN O'CONNOR TROPHY MOST SUCCESSFUL EXHIBITOR: Shingleback.
STODART TROPHY BEST YOUNG RED: Deep Woods Estate - Estate Cabernet Merlot 2015.
GRAND CHAMPION WINE: Xanadu Wines - Xanadu Reserve Chardonnay 2015.
CLICK HERE for the full catalogue results.