The annual wine awards were held on August 24th at Mandoon Estate, and it was the biggest year so far in terms of the number of entries from Swan Valley wineries and the greater Perth zone. Over 200 wines were judged in the preceding days by international wine writer Chee Wee Lee, Perth stalwart Ray Jordan and winemaker Rob Mann amongst others.
It was a hugely successful night for James- four trophies in total. The superb 2007 Pedro Ximenes was awarded Best Fortified Wine in Show. This liqueur challenged James from the very beginning- with it being an extraordinarily hot year, the fruit was hard to press, sugar levels were higher than fruit he’d ever previously tried to work with and in the end only a few hundred litres of wine out of a whole vineyard. This is a beautiful rare liqueur that will be remembered as one of our finest vintages over our 86 years.
Both Sittella and Stringybark Wines took out 3 trophies each – with Stringybark’s 2018 Verdelho being awarded Best Table wine of the Show, Best 2018 Dry White Wine of Show and Best Verdelho. Sittella’s 2017 Tinta Rouge was deserved of Best Swan Valley Red Table Wine.
Talijancich Wines were also awarded:
The West Australian Media Trophy for Most Successful Producer Best Small Producer of Show and City of Swan Trophy for Exhibitor whose five or more entries gained the highest average score.
Our thanks go to the City of Swan, Singapore Airlines, the judges and all the amazing people who worked behind the scenes at Swan Valley Winemakers for making the night so special. Thank you! It takes a lot of time away from the usual tasks of winemaking and running a winery to bring this event together.
Congratulations to all the wineries that picked up awards. Now it’s your job to head out into the valley and appreciate their efforts.