The tasting experience following the awards is open to the public, allowing locals to sample the best of the best. Photo: Lucy Ridge.
The Canberra and Region Wine Show Awards have been announced after a week of tasting and deliberation by a panel of 10 highly regarded wine judges.
Over 280 wines from 45 different wineries across the region were entered in this year’s awards, which are run by the Royal National Capital Agricultural Society.
Head judge Shantale Wale said she was pleased to lead such an amazing group of judges and commended the show for having a majority female judging panel.
“The Shiraz this year was better than I’ve ever seen it, and the Chardonnay was smoking hot!” Ms Wale told attendees.
“Canberra has been making wine well for a long time. You’ve stuck to your guns, you know your fruit is beautiful and the rest of Australia has caught up to what you’re doing.”
Organisers also thanked the volunteer stewards who are integral to the awards and acknowledged Wayne Hoy, a local science teacher who has been stewarding at the show for 27 years.
Winemaker Nick O’Leary with Alison Percival, CEO of the Tradies. Photo: Nicole McLeod Photography.
I had the pleasure of attending the award ceremony, which was immediately followed by a tasting of the wines entered in the show. Chatting to local winemakers, judges and stewards, the feeling among the crowd was that this year’s wines were a particularly good vintage after several challenging years of smoke taint, hail and changeable weather conditions.
Major prize winners included Nick O’Leary’s 2024 Riesling, which won Best White Wine of Show, Best Riesling, Best Canberra District Riesling and Wine of Provenance, which is awarded to “a winemaker that demonstrates superior consistency of quality across three vintages over at least 10 years”. These accolades also earned Nick O’Leary the Most Successful Exhibitor of Show gong.
Describing the winning wine, Ms Wale said: “With a bouquet of spring florals and backyard citrus that beckons you in, it offers total refreshment, a thread of persistent acidity, and flavours that linger for eons. It’s a wine that feels effortless yet, as we know, Riesling requires extensive effort in the vineyard and a deft hand to perfect. This wine was indisputably refined.”
The award for Best Canberra Region Shiraz was hotly contested. Photo: Lucy Ridge.
Other winners included Corang Estate’s 2023 Il Rosso for Best Sangiovese, Best Hilltops Region Wine was won by Hungerford Hill for their 2023 Fishcage Cabernet Sauvignon, and Best Sparkling Wine went to Mount Majura Vineyard for their 2011 The Silurian Late Disgorged.
The competitive title of Best Canberra District Shiraz was awarded to McWilliam’s 2023 660 Reserve Canberra Shiraz. Interestingly, the Four Winds 2023 Shiraz – which won the coveted Jimmy Watson Trophy at the Melbourne Wine Show – was only awarded silver for the same wine in the Canberra show.
Young Yass winemaker Chrissy Smith won Best Dry Red Other Varieties and/or Blends for her Intrepidus 2023 Nero D’Avola.
The Chair of Judges Trophy went to Shaw Wines 2023 Tempranillo.
For the full list of winners, head to the Royal National Capital Agricultural Society.
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