‘Incredibly beautiful’ Grenache wins national wine award

An “incredibly beautiful” Grenache from a small vineyard in McLaren Vale has won the top award in the National Wine Show of Australia – a first for the variety in the show’s 50-year history.

Willunga 100 McLaren Vale Grenache 2023 – from Blewitt Springs – won the Prime Minister’s Trophy for Champion Wine of Show.

Winemaker Renae Hirsch last night accepted the Prime Minister’s Trophy for Champion Wine of Show for Willunga 100’s 2023 McLaren Vale Grenache at the awards ceremony at Australian Parliament House.

It narrowly edged out the winner of the Len Evans Memorial Trophy for White Wine of Show – Deep Woods Estate Reserve Chardonnay 2023.

Chair of judges Matt Harrop said the first-time win for a Grenache in the only national adjudication of Australian wine reflects a reversal of fortune for a variety that has long played second fiddle to more commonly known grapes.

“Grenache is riding the zeitgeist,” he says.

“It’s the hottest thing outside Pinot Noir, which took us by storm 10 to 15 years ago when Tasmania burst onto the scene.

“The same attention to detail is now being put into Grenache by smart winemakers in the warmer parts of South Australia.

“Grenache was always seen as just a workhorse – overcropped, turned into rosé, used in blends – but there’s an amazing resource of old Grenache vines, mainly in the Barossa and McLaren Vale, and people are now looking after them, farming them properly, and recognising that they can really make something stunning.

“Willunga 100 and others like it are letting the fruit do the talking and creating incredibly beautiful wines.”

Matt Margaret River’s Julian Langworthy for his Deep Woods Estate Reserve Chardonnay 2023.

“Julian has been making some of Australia’s finest Chardonnays for a long time. It’s as good as any Australian Chardonnay can get – an absolute beacon,” he says.

Matt says this year’s trophy winners were an outstanding representation of varietals, winegrowing regions, vintages and producers across the nation.

“Having trophies from 2024 all the way back to 2012 is extraordinary,” he says.

“I’ve never seen anything like this in any show I’ve been involved in unless there’s been a dedicated museum class.

“Our judges are at the top of their game and they’re across the most exciting things happening in Australian wine.”

Of the 298 exhibitors in this year’s National Wine Show, a record 76 were entering for the first time.

A total of 1,071 wines were judged by the 12-strong judging panel in blind tastings over four days.

To make it to the National Wine Show, wines must have won a gold or silver medal at a qualifying capital city or regional show.

South Australia accounted for 35 percent of this year’s entrants, followed by New South Wales (24 percent), Victoria (21 percent), Western Australia (15 percent), with Tasmania, Queensland and the ACT comprising the remainder.

South Australia and Western Australia took out eight trophies each, Victoria four, Tasmania won two, and NSW one.

Every wine entered in the show, including the top trophy winners, will be opened for public tasting during inaugural National Wine Festival at Hyatt Hotel Canberra from June 13-15, marking the 50^th anniversary of the National Wine Show of Australia.