Australia takes out eight awards at London’s Decanter World Wine Awards – with South Australia the top Aussie region
An old vine grenache from McLaren Vale is among the top Australian drops to win a prestigious global gong – with South Australia our best performing wine region.
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Australia has come runner up to France at the prestigious Decanter World Wine Awards in London, taking out eight of the 50 Best in Show awards with wines including a new release, old vine grenache from McLaren Vale and a Bay of Fires pinot noir.
Australia took out 71 top medals overall including gold, platinum and Best in Show.
France took out 12 Best in Show awards, with Spain trailing Australia by just one with seven.
South Australia was the best performing region in Australia, with 30 top medals and three Best in Show awards.
These were the Penny’s Hill Yeenunga Single Vineyard Grenache, Chaffey Bros’ 2021 Evangeline Syrah, and the Shingleback Red Knot Classified GSM.
The Bay of Fires 2022 pinot noir was named Best in Show as was the 2022 Stella Bella Luminosa Chardonnay from Western Australia.
More than 18,000 wines are tasted at the Decanter awards, with the Best in Show awards representing just 0.28 per cent of that number.
The $100, 2023 vintage of the Yeenunga Grenache is a debut release, with the grapes sourced from 51-year-old vines planted in a horseshoe contour with a view over the Vale and St Vincent’s Gulf.
Penny’s Hill chief winemaker and general manager Alexia Roberts said the winery was thrilled with the award, and was entering a new chapter, releasing new wines to its collection.
Ms Roberts said she was impressed with the purity of fruit which went into the Yeenunga Grenache, from what she considered was one of the best single vineyard sites in McLaren Vale.
The Randall Wine Group bought Penny’s Hill in 2022, and is planning a $4m tourism village at the site, to launch in 2025.
Proprietor Warren Randall said he’d long been a fan of Penny’s Hill.
“I have admired the consistent excellence of the Penny’s Hill range of wines for over 30 years, but every now and again, Penny’s Hill and McLaren Vale stun the world of wine,’’ he said.
The judges said of the Evangeline Syrah: “This is only the second Eden Valley shiraz to fight its way to our Best in Show selection, and its emphatic, showstopping character underlines how well this slightly higher-altitude zone is suited to South Australia’s favourite red variety’’.
Victoria’s Morris Old Premium Rare Muscat, Rutherglen NV was awarded a platinum medal for a second consecutive year.
The other Australian Best in Show recipients were the 2020 Fermoy Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2022 Lowestoft Single Vineyard Jacoben pinot noir and the 2014 McGuigan Bin 9000 Semillon.
Originally published as Australia takes out eight awards at London’s Decanter World Wine Awards – with South Australia the top Aussie region
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