Two uniquely Australian wines were among the 10 local products to take out Best in Show at one of the world’s most prestigious drinks awards, the Decanter World Wine Awards.

Just 50 wines out of 18,250 entries were awarded Best in Show, with Australia securing more than any other country this year.

The international competition, organised by British wine publication Decanter, is a big deal. This year’s judging panel consisted of 236 experts from 30 nations, including 53 Masters of Wine and 16 Master Sommeliers.

Hunter Valley semillon and Rutherglen fortified were among the beverages that rose to the top of the wine entries, submitted by 57 countries.

Among them was the Brokenwood Wines 2017 ILR Reserve Semillon, made in the NSW Hunter Valley.

“There are very few wine regions in Australia that have a variety that speaks so clearly of a region,” says senior winemaker Stuart Hordern.

“I really love that. When you travel around Australia, every region has a chardonnay and every region has a shiraz. But globally, we have a variety that is synonymous with a region. Most other regions would run over coals for that association.”

“[Semillon] has really found its home in the Hunter Valley.”

Stuart Hordern

Hordern believes that part of semillon’s appeal is it can be consumed young, when crisp, bright and fresh, but he believes it really shines when it ages in the bottle to develop complexity and longevity.

The Hunter Valley is the style-driver for this variety worldwide, Hordern says. “Semillon obviously has pedigree and history in France, but there it’s blended with sauvignon blanc to make a varietal blend, or it is made into a sticky wine. The single varietal has really found its home in the Hunter Valley.”

Brokenwood’s ILR Reserve Semillon is a labour of love. “It’s a significant financial investment on our behalf to hang on to a wine for six years before releasing it,” Hordern says. “But it’s testament to the pedigree and the confidence we have in this wine.”

Judges were also impressed with the fortified wine coming out of Rutherglen in Victoria’s north-east, calling it “home to some of the world’s most extraordinary fortified wines.”

A Best in Show was awarded to the Morris Wines’ non-vintage Cellar Reserve Grand Muscat, solidifying north-eastern Victoria’s place on the global fortified map.

“Rutherglen is regarded as the home of fortified wine in Australia,” says chief winemaker David Morris.

“The region has produced muscats and topaque that have commanded the world’s attention since the 1850s and are still leading on the global stage today,” he says. “There’s a uniqueness in the Australian style that you really can’t compare with other great sweet or fortified wines of the world. These wines are a true representation of place.”

Morris believes in an uncomplicated minimal-intervention approach to winemaking. “Allowing the grapes and the terroir to shine through, holding back on the oak and relying on the full-flavoured, generous Rutherglen fruit. My father Mick’s commitment was to ‘always deliver flavour’, and that is the one thing I hold true to this day.”

Of all the states, South Australian producers shone brightest, with 35 top medals (95+ points) including half of Australia’s Best in Show medals. WA’s Margaret River region received the most 97-point wines, including three Best in Show and three Platinum awards.

A UK sparkling also won a Best in Show, while France, Spain, US, South Africa, Argentina, New Zealand, Chile, Portugal, Greece, Austria, Germany and more obscure regions across Ukraine, Serbia, Canada, Slovenia, Brazil, Israel, Georgia and Japan were also triumphant.

In addition to fine wine and top wines in terms of value, the sustainability-focused 2023 awards also included the inaugural Alternative Packaging category, which included bag-in-box wines and wines in a can.

For the full list of winners, visit awards.decanter.com.

Australia’s Best in Show

● Brokenwood Wines 2017 ILR Reserve Semillon, Hunter Valley, NSW
● Domaine Naturaliste 2020 Rebus Cabernet Sauvignon, Margaret River, WA
● Evans & Tate 2018 Redbrook Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Margaret River, WA
● Gatt Wines, 2017 Riesling, High Eden (Eden Valley), SA
● Heirloom Vineyards 2022 Alcalá Grenache, McLaren Vale, SA
● House of Cards 2022 Ace of Spades Chardonnay, Margaret River, WA
● Jacob’s Creek 2013 Johann Shiraz-Cabernet, Barossa Valley, SA
● Morris Cellar Reserve Grand Muscat NV, Rutherglen, Vic
● Penfolds 2021 Reserve Bin 21 A Chardonnay, Adelaide Hills, SA
● Wirra Wirra 2019 Chook Block, McLaren Vale, SA