By Andy Young
The 12 finalists have been named for the 2016 Young Guns of Wine Awards, which aim to find Australia’s best young winemaker.
This year marks the tenth year for the awards, with trophies presented for the Wine Australia Best New Act, the Ocean Eight Winemaker’s Choice, the People’s Choice award and the Riedel Young Gun of Wine.
The confirmed finalists for 2016 are:
Brendon Keys, BK Wines (Adelaide Hills, SA)
Chris Tyrrell, Tyrrell’s (Hunter Valley, NSW)
Gilli and Paul Lipscombe, Sailor Seeks Horse / Home Hill (Tasmania)
Jasper Button, Commune of Buttons (Adelaide Hills, SA)
Joanna Marsh, Billy Button Wines (Alpine Valleys, VIC)
Josephine Perry, Dormilona (Margaret River, WA)
Marty Singh, Precipice (Yarra Valley, VIC)
Michael Downer, Murdoch Hill (Adelaide Hills, SA)
Richard Evans, Two Tonne Tasmania (Tasmania)
Simon Killeen, Simao & Co (Rutherglen, VIC)
Tessa Brown and Jeremy Schmolzer, Vignerons Schmolzer and Brown (Beechworth, VIC)
Yoko and Andries Mostert, Brave New Wine (Great Southern, WA).
Competition founder Rory Kent said: “2016 was our biggest field of ‘shortlisted’ winemakers to date. After the judges’ nominations round, we tasted around 100 wines from 50 invited winemakers to find the top 12. Amongst these there are eight first-time finalists and each of the five major wine states are represented.”
Chief judge Nick Stock added: ““Judging this award has always been as challenging as it is thrilling and this year, our tenth anniversary, was the toughest and most rewarding ever. It was incredibly competitive to make the final round of 12.”
The competition winners will be announced on 1 July.