More than 700 Australian wineries have picked up medals in this year’s Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA), with a collective 33 golds and 10 trophies.
South Australia picked up five of the 10 trophies and 21 of the gold medals, with Adelaide Hills and McLaren Vale proving to be two of the stronger regions this year.
With more than 10,000 entries into the awards, the DWWA reinforced its position as the world’s biggest wine competition, often referred to as ‘the ultimate terroir competition’ because of its tough regional judging process.
Canadian Regional Chair Tony Aspler recently said that a bronze medal in the DWWA is worth a silver or even a gold medal in other shows and awards.
Australian wine writer Huon Hooke was among the panel of 50-plus international judges, who included the sommeliers from both The Fat Duck and El Bulli.
Australian Vintage Limited scored a hat trick with Nepenthe picking up a trophy for both its Ithaca Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc, as well as its Earth’s Portrait Riesling.
Palandri, Tyrrell’s, Fraser’s Gallop Estate, Tapestry and Tamar Ridge also picked up a trophy each, while Morris and Jacob’s Creek rounded out the ten top gongs.
Among this year’s surprises were eight gold medals going to Croatia, as well as the fact no gold medals were awarded for Chardonnay in the under 10 pounds category.