Let’s see what these winemakers can do with Shiraz

The second crop of winners chosen to take part in the Hacking the Future of Shiraz program have been announced. They are:

Parley Wines – Sarah Feehan and Melissa Woods, Adelaide Hills.
Nerine Wine Company – Ryan Haynes, Adelaide Hills.
Lvdo Wines – Marcel Kustos, Adelaide Hills.
ND Wines – Nick and Danielle Sleep, McLaren Vale.
Defialy Wines – Micah Hewitt, Macedon, Victoria.

As part of the program, launched last year by Dudley Brown and Irina Santiago-Brown from Inkwell Wines in McLaren Vale, they will each receive one tonne of free Inkwell Regenerative Organic Certified Shiraz to turn into wine.

Convenor of judges Mike Bennie said, “We had an incredible response from applicants with different winemaking backgrounds.

“We chose another group of strikingly diverse people, stories, stylistic experiences and regions to make up our second class.”

Hacking the Future of Shiraz is designed to identify emerging talents in the Australian wine industry who will craft unique Shiraz wines in non or less traditional styles attractive to younger consumers and non-consumers of Shiraz.

The open-source project began with the 2025 vintage with bottling and packaging to be completed by the end of the year.

All techniques and additions (if any) used will be disclosed by the winemakers to benefit the judges’ learning and to accelerate widespread development of popular Shiraz styles.

Dudley says the 2025 vintage has been the earliest and fastest ever.

“And one of our best,” he says.

“In 2004, our first pick of Shiraz was 17 March. In 2025, we finished putting everything to barrel on 15 March!

“Anyhow, after the success of the 2024 rendition, we are pretty stoked to see what our hackers do this year.”

The tasting panel will assess and write about each wine on the basis of creativity, accessibility and drinkability in early 2026 prior to vintage.

The international judging panel is:

Mike Bennie (Convenor of judges) – The WineFront, delicious magazine, Halliday Wine Companion.
Tamlyn Currin – wine writer, London, Jancis Robinson.com.
Marcus Ellis – wine writer, Melbourne, Halliday Wine Companion.
Erin Larkin – wine writer, Perth, The Wine Advocate.
Christina Pickard – wine writer, New York, Wine Enthusiast.
Jeffrey Porter – wine writer, New York, Wine Enthusiast.
Kasia Sobiesiak – wine writer, Sydney, The WineFront.
Fongyee Walker MW – wine educator, Shanghai.