Trophy haul for local wineries

Wineries from across Gippsland and Phillip Island showcased their wines in the 2023 Westpac Gippsland Wine Show at the annual awards celebration earlier this month.

Silverwater Vineyards, Phillip Island Winery, Purple Hen Winery, Bass River Winery and Dirty Three Wines all came home with trophies.

Silverwaters Vineyard of San Remo won Best in Class with the Silverwaters 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon (90 points).

The Best Sauvignon Blanc was won by perennial show-winners, Purple Hen Winery (90 points), with Rick Lacey also picking up a gold for the Purple Hen 2023 Off Dry Riesling.

Phillip Island Winery was awarded bronze for their 2023 Tall Timber Fume Blanc.

Dirty Three Wines, of Inverloch, won the Westpac Best Wine of Show for the 2022 All The Dirts Chardonnay, which also won the trophy and top Gold for Best Chardonnay (96 points).

Winemaker Marcus Satchell, Lisa Sartori and the team at Dirty Three also picked up trophies for Best Riesling with the 2023 Dirty Rizza Riesling and Best Red Wine of Provenance for the Dirty Three All The Dirts Pinot Noir across three vintages: 2022, 2019, 2018.

Marcus said he was humbled and proud to be one of four trophy nominees up for the Best Wine of Show, and noted that this was also a celebration of the commitment and passion of all Gippsland winemakers.

“We get one shot at making our wine each year, which is crazy,” he said.

“But we are in the industry because we love what we do.”

Frank Butera and Bass River Winery from Glen Forbes was another of the nominees for Best Wine of Show, with the trophy and top gold Best Sparkling (96) for the Bass River 2018 Sparkling Brut 1835.

Other winners include the Gippsland Wine Company at Loch, while the Most Successful Exhibitor trophy was awarded to Alistair and Catherine Hicks’ Blue Gables Vineyard, of Central Gippsland.

Wine Gippsland was proud to have Westpac return as the major sponsor and guests included representatives and sponsors from Wellington Shire, Cardinia Shire, East Gippsland Shire, Bass Coast

Shire, South Gippsland Shire and Baw Baw Shire, along with wine industry suppliers, regional businesses and other stakeholders involved in food and drink tourism.

The judging was held in early October at Cape Paterson Surf Lifesaving Club. The independent and highly credentialled judging panel, was led by Sarah Fagan, with Tim Perrin (Kooyong and Port Phillip Estate) and Rohan Smith (Medhurst) as judges, and Kayleen Reynolds (Prince Wine Store) and Dominic Kearton (Purple Hen Winery) as associate judges.

The awards were held at historic Mewburn Park Homestead, in Tinamba, Central Gippsland. The awards produced a record haul of 41 medals, including 11 gold.

Major awards:

Best Wine of Show (sponsor Westpac) – Dirty Three 2022 All The Dirts Chardonnay.
Best Red Wine of Provenance (sponsor Brandt Australia) – Dirty Three Wines All the Dirts Pinot Noir 2022, 2019, 2018.
Best White Wine of Provenance (sponsor Farmer’s Daughters) – Gippsland Wine Company Chardonnay 2021, 2019, 2016.
Most Successful Exhibitor (sponsor Cardinia Shire) – Blue Gables Vineyard.
Chair of Judges Award (sponsors Lakes Entrance Helicopters, MANSI on Raymond, Tinamba Hotel) - Gippsland Wine Company Loch Chardonnay 2022.
For full results, see: www.winegippsland.com/2023-gippsland-wine-show