By Amy Looker
The 10 finalists for the prestigious 10th annual Young Winemaker of the Year Awards have been announced by The Wine Society.
The awards are open to all Australian and New Zealand winemakers under 30 who are primarily responsible for the creation of the wine produced at their winery.
Throughout the next two months, the top two wines from each finalist will be judged by a panel of judges led by Ian McKenzie to decide The Wine Society Young Winemaker of the Year for 2010.
Other judges include PJ Charteris and Jim Chatto who are both qualified winemakers, past scholars of the Len Evans Tutorial and current judges on the National Wine Show judging circuit.
In addition, the final wines will be put to the test by The Wine Society members and some of the country’s top sommeliers to determine the Members’ Choice and Sommeliers’ Choice Awards.
The 10 finalists are:
- Josh Scott from Allan Scott Wines – Marlborough, New Zealand
- Lucas Cowley from Auntsfield Estate – Marlborough, New Zealand
- Debbie Lauritz from Cumulus Estate Wines – Orange, NSW
- Anna Pooley from Heemkerk Wines – Tasmania
- Donna Hartwig from Kingston Estate Wines – Riverland, South Australia
- Steve Baraglia from Naked Run Wines – Salisbury Plains, South Australia
- Luke Watson from Pepper Tree Wines – Hunter Valley, NSW
- Jacob Stein from Robert Stein Winery – Mudgee , NSW
- Scott Comyns from Tempus Two – Hunter Valley, NSW
- Janelle Zerk from Z Wine – Barossa Valley, South Australia
The winner will be announced at an awards dinner at the Westin Hotel in Sydney on November 12 where wine guru Matt Skinner will be on hand to help present the awards.