The Auswine Forum

There are many competitions and awards that's the Aussie wines can enter and display on their bottles now - I personally am a bit seduced by them. However, as I know in Canada there are a very select few that are truly 'highly' regarded, so my question is which competitions in Australia are the most respected ?
Cheers,
Mishy

Mishy wrote:There are many competitions and awards that's the Aussie wines can enter and display on their bottles now - I personally am a bit seduced by them. However, as I know in Canada there are a very select few that are truly 'highly' regarded, so my question is which competitions in Australia are the most respected ?
Cheers,
Mishy

Hi Mishy

Others will jump in, but for me

Major City Shows

Finished bottled labelled wines so, in no order.

Adelaide Wine Show

National Wine Show

Brisbane Wine Show

and especially for Western Australian Wines, the WA Wine Show.

Melbourne is quite good, but for the Jimmy Watson Trophy!

I thought Xanadu's medal for "best white wine to have with fish'n'chips" was the pinnacle of our show judging system

Cheers

Dave

Michelle,

As fantastic as multiple show results may seem, a recent thread on this board dispelled some of the myth attached to such results.

Because there's so many wine shows over here, the 'big' wine companies have the necessary resources to show a 'particular' wine anywhere and, just about, everywhere. And with the frequency of such shows ever-increasing, one must be cautious of certain results and conscious of the 'bigger picture'. It is relatively easy to show a wine, say, 15 times in one year and receive 1 gold, 2 silver and 5 bronze medals. If the producer so wishes, 1 gold and 2 silver may appear on the label. Pretty good result, eh? What about the 5 bronze and 7 'no results'. Get my picture?

Without going into massive detail (and an even bigger rant ), Gavin's reco's are roughly right, IMO, except, I would put Sydney on the list and relinquish Brisbane to 'not as reliable'. Perhaps, he may wish to respond on this, in due course. Nevertheless, anything winning multiple golds (and trophies) at several major capital city shows has, obviously, 'something' going for it. And, then again, a particularly distinctive style may be easily recognisable by some of the same judges at another wine show held a month or two later. All a bit too much of a lottery to me

Unfortunately, producers and retailers sometimes 'up the ante' on price, once the hardware can be displayed on the bottle or on the net. Just keep in mind the majority of Oz whites and reds I buy (and cellar with confidence) don't have to show at any wineshows at all. And I'm not referring to the 'cult' producers who rely on 'Parker points'

No doubt, others will fill you in with some of the gaping holes I've, no doubt, left. My advice, as always, is to drink regularly, and in moderation, and buy what turns you on.

Just my 8.3 cents worth. Remember the Aussie dollar doesn't buy much these days

Mishy,

Here is an articel that i wrote a couple of years ago on the subject.

Medals – do they mean the wine is good?

Many of us have been wondering thorough a bottle shop and seen a bottle of inexpensive wine festooned with more medal than General “Stormin” Norman Schwartzkoff has pinned on his uniform.

So, it would be fair to assume the wine should be pretty damn good, in fact with that much gold it should be fantastic. You plonk your $20 down the counter, grab the change, walk down the road to your favourite BYO, the cork is pulled, you order the food, you taste the wine and go “hummm, this is pretty ordinary.” So why? How come it won all those medals, and what’s Class 56 at the West Bowral Show anyway?

To answer these questions, you need to understand a little about the show system. I have broken the shows into four classes.

1. Small Regional shows like say Mudgee, Cowra, and Ballarat etc. These shows are small and most wines entered are from the local area. In many of these small shows, a high percentage of medals are awarded.

2. The next category includes the larger regions like the Barossa, and the smaller Capitol city wine shows like Hobart. Medals are normally a bit harder to get here.

3. The third category is where the men are separated from the boys. The major Capitol City shows like Melbourne and Sydney. These shows tend to have a lower percentage of medals awarded and “not every child wins a prize” if you know what I mean.

The National Wine Show in Canberra is the most prestigious show. To enter, a wine must have already won a medal in a regional or capitol city show, so in theory only the best wines make it to Canberra. Generally speaking there are less medals awarded in Canberra than in most other shows.

4. The final category represents the overseas wine shows. These medals are a marketers dream. The medals like “Top Gold in the Reykjavik Wine Show,” sounds impressive, but its not! All the wines entered may have all basically been mass produced swill that belongs in a plastic bladder that’s wrapped in a cardboard box. But the medal looks great on the bottle!

Some of the other classics are “Judged Best Wine in the World” at the XYZ City Show. Another one that sounds impressive, but to enter 100,000 bottles of the wine may have to be produced and the wine must be less than 12 months old and cost less than $5.00. Get the picture? More high grade swill!

Generally speaking, the smaller the show the easier it is to win a gong. So if you see a wine that has won 5 bronze medals at wine small regional wine shows, it doesnÂ’t mean much. However if the wine has won 2 Silver in Canberra, 3 Gold in Melbourne and 2 Bronze in Sydney, it should be a pretty good wine.

So, the moral of the story is donÂ’t be impressed with the medals on the bottle, unless they are from major shows there are no guarantees. You are much better asking for advice from the bottle shop attendant, friends, or try and follow a wine writer like say James Halliday. You will quickly see how their taste and yours differ and where you agree or disagree with their findings.

Ah, and that wine that won a Gold in Class 56 at the West Bowral Wine Show mentioned at the start of this article. WhatÂ’s class 56 anyhow? IsnÂ’t that the class for the bottle with the best-looking label? Yep, these medals can mean a lot, but a lot of nothing in many cases.

Thanks David and Ric,
I know what your saying about marketing ones wines with multiple medals in order to influence/or delude buyers impressions, and I expected to be warned about the validity of some of these competitions, that's why I asked the question.
However, like what was mentioned by Ric, some of these competitions are more worthy and deserving of more attention.
I appreciate your thoughts and suggestions, thanks for the time it took to explain the system to me.
Cheers,
Mishy

Hi Mishy,

I must confess to having been a medal victim. Amongst the most "decorated" in Vancouver's shops lies some Wyndham Reserve. Avoid that one at all cost.

D'Arenberg wines also generaly show up with many metallic stickers but are generally worthy of purchasing. Having said that, your best resort is to ask the people on this forum.

Cheers,

Francois