By Deborah Jackson, editor National Liquor News
Entries are open for the 36th annual Sydney International Wine Competition (SIWC) to be held in February, 2016.
This year, SIWC has introduced three new judges and redesigned its website to offer comprehensive feedback for winemakers through judges’ comments on each award winning wine.
New judges include Andreas Larsson, Sweden; Jo Burzynska, New Zealand; and Sebastian Crowther MS, NSW.
They join returning judges chairman Kym Milne MW, South Australia; Sue Bastian, SA; Meg Brodtmann MW, Victoria; Ken Dobler, NSW; Cameron Douglas MS, NZ; Rob Geddes MW, NSW; Warren Gibson, NZ; Stuart Halliday, NSW; Brent Marris, NZ; Mark Robertson, SA; and Wilfred Wong, US.
The competition is open to grape wines from all countries with entries capped at a maximum of 2000 wines, on a first come basis.
Entires can be made at www.top100wines.com, which contains full details of judging criteria for the 2016 competition.
Warren Mason, competition director of the SIWC, said the 2015 competition attracted international attention with some of the highest performing wines among the best value wines, highlighting the industry’s move towards food friendly wines of balance and harmony at all price points.
“In the past, many wines that may have been successful in traditional wine shows have not performed as strongly when matched with food,” said Mason.
“There has been an industry wide move towards more consumer oriented, food friendly wines, at all price levels, and this was reflected strongly in the 2015 competition year’s results.
“The reality is, for most of us, wine at its best is enjoyed with food, and it is pleasing to see, at last, many winemakers are responding. The judging of wine with food in the right environment is the best way to help a wine show’s awards relevance for consumers, and that is what Sydney International Wine Competition has been doing for the past thirty plus years.
“We have redesigned our competition's website, tightening the focus on offering organised, independent, expert opinion on every award winner, aimed at helping consumers make informed wine choices.”
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