Adelaide Hills winemaker Michael Downer wins Young Gun of Wine award

Handmade wines with soul and character are being sought by the next generation of drinkers.

Adelaide Hills winemaker ­Michael Downer, who has been chosen from 12 finalists as the nation’s best emerging talent. Picture: Roy Van Der Vegt

Handmade wines with soul and character are being sought by the next generation of drinkers, says Australia’s young gun of wine.

Adelaide Hills winemaker ­Michael Downer, chosen from 12 finalists as the nation’s best emerging talent at a ceremony in Melbourne on Tuesday night, has been at the forefront of a small group making adventurous drops like pinot meunier, which is hot in wine bars across the country.

The 32-year-old small-batch vintner, who launched a range of unfiltered, cool climate reds and barrel-fermented white varieties under his family-owned Murdoch Hill label five years ago, has been named Australia’s latest Young Gun of Wine.

The award showcases emerging winemakers testing new ­varieties and methods and best trends.

“It’s not restricted by age,” Mr Downer said. “It’s more about being young at heart and not necessarily being part of the corporate world.”

Judges said he was simultaneously refining fine wine styles, with chardonnays and ­syrahs, through incremental improvements in the family vineyard and winery, as well as experimenting in an assured manner, making adventurous wines with grapes sourced from other Adelaide Hills growers.

Mr Downer, the family’s third generation to work the Oakbank farm, 33km east of Adelaide, has named the wines after horse-drawn carriages in his grandfather’s collection. His father planted vines in 1998 and used a contract winemaker to build the Murdoch Hill brand until Mr Downer returned in 2012 from stints with Shaw & Smith, Great Western and in France and Italy.

“I want to produce a wine that’s expressing its place and the season. That’s the kind of ­expression I want to achieve,’’ he said.

Mr Downer said Generation Y consumers were health conscious and wanted to know the origins of their food and wine. “They want honesty and transparency,’’ he said. “They don’t want manufactured consistency, they want a sense of place and character.”

Young Gun of Wine also honoured Peter Dredge from Tasmania’s Meadowbank Wines with a people’s choice award. ­Reislingfreak winemaker John Hughes from South Australia’s Clare Valley was the winemaker’s choice, while the Best New Act award went to Rob Mack from Aphelion in McLaren Vale.

Yoko and Andries Luscher-Mostert won “most adventurous” award for their Brave New Wine’s 2016 Wonderland riesling, infused with native botanicals from Western Australia.