Iconic Hunter Valley winery Tyrrell Wines claimed three major trophies at the 2024 Royal Adelaide Wine and Spirit Awards, while St Agnes XO, claimed the Champion Spirit Trophy, making it the in every capital city spirit awards this year.
This year has seen the St Agnes XO Grand Reserve awarded a gold medal and the JJ McWilliam Trophy for Best Brand at the Royal Sydney Distilled Spirits Awards and the Trophy for Best Distilled Spirit, as well as gold and trophy for Best Brandy at the Melbourne Royal Australian Distilled Spirits Awards and gold and trophy for Best Brandy at the Tasting Australia Spirit Awards.
Richard Angove, the fifth generation of his family to lead St Agnes, said: “These awards reflect the hard work and passion that our team puts into every bottle. Our XO Grand Reserve 40-Year-Old Brandy represents the pinnacle of our distilling expertise and our commitment to creating world-class spirits.”
After winning the Sydney awards last month, Angove told The Shout: “In 1925 when my great grandfather laid down the first St Agnes brandy he wanted to create a spirit that was unlike anything that was currently made in Australia – a lighter, fresher style in line with the great Cognacs from France.
“It is a style and method that remains unchanged to this day, and I think the proof that he started something world class is evidenced by the accolades all brandies in the St Agnes range are receiving, from the humble VS all the way through to the current ultimate expression XO 40-Year-Old Grand reserve.
“This is one reason our retailers, bars and clubs should be using and selling Australian brandy, and in particular St Agnes, as they are truly world class offerings.”
St Agnes celebrates 100 years next year and is promising a number of special, extremely limited releases and events planned to commemorate the occasion.
For the Tyrrell family, its iconic Vat 1 Semillon, won the George Fairbrother Memorial Trophy for the most outstanding white wine in show.
The family-owned winery also received The Gramp, Hardy, Hill-Smith Prize for National Wine of Provenance for its Steven’s Semillon and Head Winemaker Andrew Spinaze was additionally recognised with The F Miller & Co Prize for Winemaker of the National Wine of Provenance.
Greg Follett, Chair of the Royal Adelaide Wine Committee, said: “The Royal Adelaide Wine and Spirit Awards attract some of Australia’s finest wines, and with more than 2,200 entries from across the country, the competition was outstanding once again this year.
“Tyrrell’s Wines’ Vat 1 Semillon is truly outstanding, consistently winning awards year after year for good reason.
“It’s always exciting to see such a diverse range of wineries among the full winners list, highlighting the breadth and quality of Australian winemaking.
“It has been a challenging time for the industry and there will be more challenges ahead, but this year’s entries show that we are still producing some of the best wine and spirits in the world.”
Western Australian producer Devil’s Lair took home the prestigious Max Schubert AM Trophy for the most outstanding red wine in show with its Cabernet Sauvignon, while Jim Barry Wines secured the Governor’s Trophies for both Best South Australian White and Red in Show, with its Florita Riesling and Barry Brothers GSM, respectively.