By Amy Looker, editor National Liquor News
Adelaide Hills’ Lobethal Road Wines was the star of the show at the 2014 Macquarie Group Sydney Royal Wine Show, taking home a trifecta of the top awards.
The 2012 Lobethal Road Wines Shiraz was the undisputed standout wine at this year’s show, winning the prestigious Macquarie Group Perpetual Trophy Best Wine of Show, as well as Best Shiraz and Best Red Wine.
The Yarra Valley’s Coldstream Hills proved that Chardonnay is well and truly making a comeback, with the 2011 Coldstream Hills Reserve Chardonnay winning the Fine Wine Partners Perpetual Trophy for the best wine judged from the top wines of each of the capital city wine Shows, beating a total of 17,000 wines from across Australia.
The Best White Wine also went to a Chardonnay, with South Australia’s Wolf Blass Wines awarded top honours in the category for its 2012 White Label Chardonnay.
Chairman of judges, Iain Riggs, said this year’s competition showcased the diversity, both regionally and varietally, of Australian wine.
“This year, we awarded 30 more gold medals than we did in 2013. This reflects both the excellent 2012 and 2013 vintages and the exceptional quality of some of the older cellared wines coming through,” Riggs said.
“Red wines including Shiraz and Cabernet dominated the entries this year, however white wines were more successful with a higher medal tally.
“It’s also great to see more biodynamic and organic entries reflecting their current popularity with consumers. I expect this will be a segment that will continue to grow in quantity and quality.”
More than 30 trophies and 1100 Sydney Royal medals were awarded to entrants from across the country’s top wine regions, judged by a panel of 32 judges who blind tasted a record 2400 entries.
Full results of the 2014 Macquarie Group Sydney Royal Wine Show are available at www.sydneyroyal.com.au/wine.