Touchdown for the Rocket man

This year, 952 wines representing 236 Australian wineries competed in the Canberra-based show, run by the Royal National Capital Agricultural Society.

Of the 23 trophy winners, eight were from South Australia, seven from Victoria, four from Western Australia, three from New South Wales and one from Tasmania.

Victoria’s De Bortoli Wines made the most trips to the podium, picking up the Shiraz Trophy for its 2022 Heathcote Handcrafted Shiraz, the Alternate Red Blends Trophy for its 2022 Ancient Soils Tempranillo Touriga, and the Rose Trophy for the De Bortoli 2023 Rose Rose.

Matt Harrop says the five wines competing for the Sparking Trophy represented one of the strongest sparkling line-ups in the show’s nearly 50-year history.

“It’s unlikely we’ll ever see such a strong class again because a lot of the grapes that were going into sparkling are now being made into table wine. Sparkling can be more costly and time-consuming to produce as it needs longer in the bottle before going to market,” Matt says.

Among the sparkling finalists were three entries from Tasmania’s House of Arras, including the winner of the Sparkling Trophy, the House of Arras 2015 Grand Vintage.

Matt says the varietal trophies were among this year’s most exciting classes, with the White Varietal Trophy going to an unconventional and daring French varietal never before seen in the national awards.

Winner Crittenden Wines’ 2018 Cri de Coeur Sous Voile Savagnin follows a traditional process from France’s Jura region in which wine is aged under a layer of yeast, allowing it to slowly oxidise.

“It’s quite confronting as it’s not fruit-based but an oxidised style of wine. When done properly, it is a thirst-making, briny, salty, olivey thing with beautiful acidity and amazing length,” Matt says.

“People can expect to be totally freaked out by the Savagnin.

“It doesn’t smell or taste like your traditional white wine; it’s more akin to a fino sherry with a powerful, piercing palate.

“Crittenden has produced an absolutely outstanding example of this variety. It’s a really cool wine and I’m thrilled it won the White Varietal Trophy.”

Red Varietal class grows 20 percent

The Red Varietal Trophy went to Bleasdale Vineyards’ 2022 Generations Malbec, in a class that saw entry numbers up 20 percent on last year.

“The growth of the varietals classes reflects the evolution of Australian winemaking,” Matt says.

“With the impact of climate change, many winemakers are switching from more traditional styles such as Cabernet and Chardonnay to Mediterranean styles that need much less water and can thrive in the drier parts of Australia.

“We’ll see more and more whites such as Albarino, Vermentino, Gruner Veltliner, Fiano and Arneis, and reds such as Tempranillo, Montepulciano, Nebbiolo, Barbera and Malbec, as these non-mainstream vines begin to mature.”