Mudgees annual Wine Show was held last week with no shortage of successes.
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Speaking to the Mudgee Guardian, winemaker Jacob Stein summed up the night and what it means for the industry.
“The awards are the night of nights for the Mudgee wine industry really, and the feeling in the room is always quite warm. It’s so good to have a night like that where we can give each other a pat on the back and reward the hard work we all put in through the year,” he said.
That hard work has been harder than most this year with the drought having an impact on local winegrowers too.
“The drought has definitely affected us this year, we had a much lower yield this year, between 20 and 50 per cent in the harvest for 2018. There’s a lot of people with cellar doors at the moment who are going to be short of wine this year,”
“I know some people that have already sold out of the wine they’ve made this year,”
“We’re not often publicised as one of the industries that are most affected and I understand that, generally we don’t have cattle and livestock to feed and grass isn’t as important to us. But from a crop perspective, quality and quantity of grapes is certainly affected by drought.”
In total, there were 34 gold medals, 33 silver medals, and 103 bronze medals awarded to the region's greatest wines.
For the most prestigious awards throughout the show, a special event was held on Friday night to give praise to the best of the best which saw 19 trophies awarded.
Jacob Stein was awarded the Winemaker of the Year award for the second year running. When asked if he can make it a hattrick, he said he’d be thrilled for anyone to win, they’re all friends anyway.
“When you win a big award like that it puts a nice cap on all the hard work we’ve put in over the year. It’s a personal award but I definitely couldn’t do it without the team that I have behind me,” he said.
”I’d be just as happy if someone else won it next year. They’re all mates of mine so I’d be pretty happy if one of them won it as well.”
These winners include:
- The Champion Wine of Show - Robert Stein 2016 Riesling
- Most Outstanding White Wine of the Show - Robert Stein 2016 Riesling
- Winemaker of the Year - Jacob Stein
- Wine Show Most Successful Exhibitor - Bunnamagoo Estate
- Most Outstanding Red Wine of Show - Robert Oatley Vineyards Pocketwatch 2017 Shiraz
- Viticulturist of the Year - Paul Winfield
- The Gil Wahlquist Perpetual Trophy for Best Organic/Biodynamic/Preservative Free Wine - Lowe Wines 2009 Block 5 Shiraz
- The Dave Robertson Memorial Trophy for the Best Cabernet - Bunnamagoo Estate 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot
- The Robert Stein Memorial Trophy for Best Shiraz - Robert Oatley Vineyards Pocketwatch 2017 Shiraz
- The Carlo Corino Trophy for the Best Red Wine not Shiraz or Cabernet - Bunnamagoo Estate 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot
- Best Semillon - Petersons 2012 Semillon
- Best Chardonnay - Robert Stein 2017 Reserve Chardonnay
- Best White WIne not CHardonnay or Semillon - Robert Stein 2016 Riesling
- Best Museum White Wine Perpetual Trophy - Robert Stein 2009 Riesling
- Best Museum Red Trophy - Lowe Wines 2009 Block 5 Shiraz
- Most Outstanding Sweet Wine of Show for Class 16 & 17 - Huntington Estate 2015 Late Harvest Semillon
- Most Outstanding Fortified Wine of Show - Westcourt Wines 2000 Muscat
- Best Rosé Wine of Show - 1838 Wines 2018 Classic French Style Rosé
- Best Mudgee Classic Blend of Show - Robert Stein 2017 Kinnear
The Mudgee Wine Show is held early September each year, and marks the beginning of wine season.
