Australia’s best drop has been crowned, as the nation’s wine community came together to celebrate the industry’s finest in a prestigious competition.
Sydney Royal Wine Show judges on Thursday night crowned a West Australian wine the best in the country on Thursday night, awarding the Evans & Tate 2021 Redbrook Estate Chardonnay the Wine of Show gong.
The Margaret River product also took out two other major awards — the AP John Coopers Perennial Trophy for Best Chardonnay and the Albert Chan Memorial Prize for Best White.
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Best Red was claimed by Victorian winery Montalto’s 2022 Pennon Hill Pinot Noir, taking home the Dr Gilbert Phillips Memorial Perpetual Trophy, while the Thorp Annual Trophy for Best Sparkling White or Rose was taken out by House of Arras Tasmania for its Grand Vintage 2015.
Established in 1826, the annual wine show attracts more than 2200 entries from 350 producers across the country.
Sydney Royal chair of judges Sarah Crowe said this year’s winners reflected an industry producing remarkable products.
“Australian wine connoisseurs are winners here,” Crowe said.
“The 2023 Sydney Royal Wine Show has demonstrated that not only are Australian producers delivering incredible wines, but they are doing so at reasonable price points for consumers.
“This year’s Best Wine of Show is a fantastic example of this.
“Australian chardonnays are at the top of their game and the Evans & Tate Redbrook Estate Chardonnay is delivering the highest quality at an accessible price for this level of wine.”
Evans & Tate senior winemaker Matt Byrne said the awards were an integral part of the winery achieving its quality goals.
“We continually benchmark our wines against the award-winning wines that come to the fore each year at the Sydney Royal Wine Show and these wines provide the inspiration and drive for our team here in Margaret River year-in-year-out to simply make better and better wine,” he said.
“I felt for Sarah Crowe and her talented team of judges trying to pick out the winning wine, as the top wines are an extraordinary showcase of Australian winemaking.
“So, for our Redbrook Chardonnay to not only be in that mix but to end up on top makes it a very proud moment for team E&T.”
Byrne said the team “knew we had something extra special” when they picked the fruit in February 2021 and bottled it almost two years later.
“The cooler 2021 vintage in Margaret River drew similarities to that of 2019 and 2017 and the learnings from these prior vintages allowed us to home in on what worked and what we would have done differently if we had that time again,” he said.
“This really took our 2021 Redbrook Chardonnay to the next level.”
Jim Barry Wines’ Lodge Hill Riesling 2022 won Best Riesling, while the Robert Oatley Signature Series Sauvignon Blanc 2022 took home Best Sauvignon Blanc, McGuigan Bin 9000 Sémillon 2014 won Best Sémillon and Landaire Pinot Gris 2022 took out Best Pinot Gris or Pinot Grigio.
For reds, Montalto’s Pennon Hill Pinot Noir 2022 claimed Best Pinot Noir, Sevenhill Cellars Open Range Grenache 2021 won Best Grenache, Skillogalee Estate’s Trevarrick Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 took home Best Cabernet Sauvignon and Cherubino’s Pedestal Margaret River Shiraz 2021 won Best Shiraz.
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