Wine regions Australia - Strathbogie Ranges

Strathbogie Ranges   2003 Wine Show Results

Gold Gold Gold!

A gold medal was awarded for the first time at the Annual Strathbogie Ranges Wine Show held last week. Plunkett Wines 2002 Shiraz took the honour and was presented with a Gold medal at a Presentation Dinner on Friday night.

The 2002 Shiraz was also awarded Wine of the Show, reflecting the quality of Shiraz wines grown in the Strathbogie Ranges. Sam Plunkett, from Plunkett Wines has long been an advocate of the Strathbogie Shiraz, commenting "When people overseas are looking for a great Shiraz they head straight to the Australian section of the bottle shop. Lots of people grow and make good Shiraz, but the Strathbogie stuff really is that bit better. Big full bodied powerful wine but with an elegance that lifts them above those monster dry reds."

The Wine Show, in its third year, is open to wine producers within the Strathbogie Ranges Wine Region. The wines were judged in the Function Room at the Fettucine Restaurant on Tuesday 28 October by judges Ralph Kyte Powell, wine writer for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald, Rob Dolan from Punt Road Wines in the Yarra Valley, Don Lewis from Mitchelton Wines and Sally Fiske, wine maker and marketer with Australian Wine Selectors. The judging was against International standards and used the Internationally-accepted points scoring system.

The awards presentation night was held on Friday night (4 November) at Haguns Function Centre in Euroa. A total of 46 wine entries were received over 10 classes. Of these, there were 16 bronze medals awarded, three silver, and one gold. Other results included:

Class Awards: (Sponsored by WHITEHART HOTEL, HAYGUNS RESTAURANT, I.K.CALDWELL, BYFORD ENGINEERING, NMIT, LANDMARK)

Trophies

PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARD Sponsored by NEWNHAMS EXCAVATION - Dominion Wines 2003 Chardonnay

BEST WHITE OF SHOW Sponsored by SKINNERS RURAL SUPPLIES - Terip Vineyards 2003 Sauvignon Blanc

BEST RED OF SHOW Sponsored by AUSTRALIAN WINE SELECTORS -Plunkett Wines 2002 Shiraz

WINE OF SHOW- Sponsored by STRATHBOGIE SHIRE COUNCIL - Plunkett Wines 2002 Shiraz

The importance of the wine industry for the Shire of Strathbogie was recognised by Councillor Eric Tame in his speech before awarding the Wine of the Show trophy to Plunkett Wines. Cr Tame spoke of the huge investment contribution the wine industry has made to the Shire, in terms of dollars invested in setting up vineyards and building wineries, on-going economic input for materials, machinery and sprays and the significant employment of local workers within the vineyards and wineries. With the potential for wine tourism, the annual economic contribution of the Strathbogie Ranges wine industry of more than $35 million annually and the direct and indirect employment of over 400 persons is likely to continue.

The Shire donated the Trophy for this the best wine of show plus initiated a Perpetual Trophy which will be issued to the winner of the top award each year.

After the awards and a magnificent three-course meal provided by Haguns Restaurant, Andrew Skinner took the floor in an auction of two cases of Strathbogie Ranges Wines, including the award winning wines of the night. After much spirited auctioneering and reluctant bidding, the first case was knocked down to Julie Wilkinson of Baarrooka Wines for $360 and the second case to Sam Plunkett of Plunkett Wines for $400. Proceeds of the auction went to Camp Emmett at Puckapunyal, a charity for underprivileged children.