The 2023 winners of the Melbourne Royal Wine Awards, presented by vintrace, were announced last week at a luncheon in the Victoria Pavilion at the Melbourne Showgrounds.
This year’s awards attracted over 2425 entries from more than 420 Australian wineries, with a total of over 1100 awards and medals presented.
Celebrating the 60th presentation of the Jimmy Watson Memorial Trophy for Best Young Red, Lowestoft Estate Wines won the trophy for the 2022 Lowestoft La Maison Pinot Noir. This is the first time Lowestoft Estate has won the trophy and the third time a Pinot Noir has won the prestigious trophy. Previous Pinot Noir winners were Home Hill Winery in 2015 and Yabby Lake Winery in 2013.
In addition, Lowestoft Estate won the James Halliday Trophy for Best Pinot Noir for the same wine, the third year in a row that La Maison Pinot Noir has won the award. Fruit from the Lowestoft vineyard also produced the 2017 James Halliday Pinot Noir trophy winner, before Lowestoft was acquired by Fogarty Family Wines in 2019.
Lowestoft’s Chief Winemaker and General Manager Liam McElhinney said: “It is a great honor for me and our winemaking and viticulture teams to be able to produce such amazing wines from the Lowestoft vineyard. This is a small 3 hectare site that was densely planted to 8,300 vines per hectare in 1986.
“Winning the Jimmy Watson Memorial Trophy and the ‘triple’ James Halliday Trophy shows the immense quality this vineyard produces year after year. We are immensely proud that the consistency of style we are capturing at La Maison is setting a new benchmark for Australian Pinot Noir.
“Our success is Tasmania’s success and we hope that wine consumers will continue to appreciate how fantastic Tasmanian Pinot Noir is.
The Francois De Castella trophy for Best Young White Wine was awarded to the 2022 Handpicked Wines Wombat Creek Vineyard Yarra Valley Chardonnay, which also won Best Chardonnay and Best Victorian Chardonnay.
Peter Dillon, Chief Winemaker at Handpicked Wines, was thrilled to receive the trophy.
“I’m over the moon to receive this award, certainly not what I had in mind when I woke up this morning,” he said.
“It is the icing on the cake of a very exciting year for Handpicked Wines. Wombat Creek is an incredible site at the very top of the Yarra Valley. It’s a site we’re very passionate about, having been its custodian since 2016. Since then, we’ve focused on organic farming and regenerative viticultural practices, which has put this site on a path to becoming fully organic. It’s obvious that these practices have increased the quality of fruit we’re able to source from the site, and ultimately the quality of wine we’re able to produce.”
With over 904 eligible entries, the Douglas Seabrook Trophy for Best Single Vineyard Wine went to McWilliams Wines Single Vineyard 2022 Shiraz, which also won the Trevor Mast Trophy for Best Shiraz.
Tasmania’s Freycinet Vineyard has won its first trophy at the Melbourne Royal Wine Awards, taking home the Dr. Tony Jordan Trophy for Best Sparkling for the 2016 Freycinet Vineyard Radenti Vintage Cuvee, Chardonnay/Pinot Noir.
Melbourne Royal CEO, Brad Jenkins, commented on the importance of the awards.
“The Melbourne Royal Wine Awards is one of Australia’s oldest and most respected wine awards programs, recognizing and rewarding excellence in Australian winemaking,” he said.
“This year marks the 60th presentation of the Jimmy Watson Memorial Trophy and we congratulate the team from Tasmania’s Lowestoft Estate on taking home the top wine prize. We are grateful to all our entrants, judges, committee members and stewards for their unwavering commitment to excellence and for making this year’s Melbourne Royal Wine Awards one of the most coveted in its history”.
The awards were judged by a panel of 35 wine experts, chaired by Melanie Chester.
“The results of the 2023 Melbourne Royal Wine Awards demonstrate the strength and diversity of our industry. This year, judges from across the Australian industry came together with the daunting task of tasting just over 2400 wines, and the delicious wines on the table on trophy day were a testament to the talent and dedication of our growers and winemakers,” said Chester.
Representing the Victorian Government and government partner Drink Victoria, the Hon. Nick Staikos MP, Parliamentary Secretary to the Premier, spoke of the importance of the awards to the Victorian wine industry.
“Victoria has around 700 wineries that make a significant contribution to Victoria’s $24.5 billion beverage industry, creating regional jobs and boosting local tourism. While not every winery was fortunate enough to win an award, the Melbourne Royal Wine Awards celebrate that contribution and provide a timely reminder to Drink Victorian ahead of the festive season,” Mr Staikos said.
