Four Trophies at the Sydney Royal Wine Show 2023
We are delighted to announce that Fogarty Wine Group (FWG) has been awarded four Trophies and seven Gold Medals at the Sydney Royal Wine Show last night, including the major show Trophy (Wine of Show) for the Evans & Tate 2021 Redbrook Estate Chardonnay.
The Evans & Tate 2021 Redbrook Estate Chardonnay was awarded 97 points and also received The AP John Coopers Perennial Trophy for Best Chardonnay, The Albert Chan Memorial Prize for Best White and The Tucker Seabrook Perpetual Trophy for Best Wine of Show. With over 222 Chardonnay wines submitted from across Australia, this Trophy is recognition yet again of the power and excellence of Margaret River, and Evans & Tate Chardonnay.
“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,” Sydney Royal Chair of Judges, Sarah Crowe said.
Established in 1826, the Sydney Royal Wine Show is a prestigious capital city wine show, attracting over 2,500 entries every year from over 350 wineries across the country. Winning a Trophy or Medal at this show recognises the strength and excellence of a wine against a benchmark of the top wines in Australia.
On this incredible triple Trophy win, Senior winemaker Matt Byrne said: "Sincere thanks to the Royal Agricultural Society of NSW in recognising Evans & Tate, not only in this year’s Show, but over many years. These awards are integral in Evans & Tate achieving its wine 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."
Australia's Best Value Wine
The Millbrook 2022 Regional Grenache Shiraz Mourvèdre has been awarded The Dan Murphy’s Value Perennial Trophy for Best Value Wine.
With 85% of all Grenache producers located in South Australia and Victoria, Western Australia is a minor player in the Grenache game, with less than 10% of the country's annual production. Reflecting on this epic win, FWG Chief Winemaker Julian Langworthy said:
"Geographe is a very exciting area for Grenache. It's hot in the daytime and cold at night, with the ideal slope and elevation for this variety to thrive. We see Geographe as an exciting up-and-coming region for the GSM varieties, especially Grenache. There aren't many WA Grenache and Grenache blends out there, so winning this award on a national stage against SA and Victoria is very exciting for us."
So, what exactly does receiving a Trophy signify? Let’s delve deeper into the world of wine shows.
Sydney Royal Wine Show
The purpose of a wine show (and any agricultural show for that matter) is to continuously push the quality of Australian produce and establish benchmarks of excellence. Fogarty Wine Group Chief Winemaker Julian Langworthy has many years of experience as a Wine Show Judge and Chair of Judges under his belt and explains, “The Australian Wine Show system started with the purpose of giving producers feedback on their wines, and over the years the industry has morphed into a high level of sophistication and prestige”.
The wine show system is an extremely rigorous, judicious and well-respected process; with over 2,500 wines entered per show, multiple tastings, re-tastings and then some, to determine the very best wine in each class and category.
As Julian says, “It really does take an excellent wine to win, but also a touch of good luck.”
“A Sydney Royal win is a testament of achievement at the highest level, and recognises personal dedication, ability, uncompromising diligence, and good old Aussie passion and hard work”, proclaims the Royal Agricultural Society of NSW.
The Royal Sydney Wine Show 2023 results catalogue can be viewed here.
The Judging Process
The Sydney Royal Wine Show engages some of the most experienced and respected Judges, chosen based on their industry knowledge and expertise, and come from a wide range of sectors, including wine educators, winemakers, viticulturists, sommeliers and more.
To minimise bias, all wine shows are judged 'blind', meaning that the only information disclosed is the wine's vintage and variety. Wines are categorised, known as classes, according to variety and vintage. For example, the Millbrook 2022 Regional GSM was entered into Class 25 – Grenache dominant blends, 2022 and older.
Each Judge assesses each class independently of each other, in silence, in order to minimise influence on scoring. After each class, Judges compare scores and notes, and arrive at a consensus on each wine (which may involve more tastings). Results and identities of wines remain unknown until the award presentation evening.
Medals are determined by the Judges using the following point scale:
GOLD medal for outstanding Exhibits gaining 95 points and over. Only Gold Medal wines are eligible to win a Trophy
SILVER medal for excellent Exhibits gaining 90 points, but fewer than 95 points
BRONZE medal for quality Exhibits gaining 85 points but fewer than 90 pointsAs a guide to the significance of each type of medal, Julian says,
“A bronze medal wine is one you would buy at least one glass of, a silver medal wine is worthy of a bottle,
and a gold medal wine deserves a whole case.”
And a Trophy winning wine? We’ll let you decide what to do with that.
A huge congratulations to Chief Winemaker Julian Langworthy, Millbrook Winemaker Emma Gillespie, Evans & Tate Senior Winemaker Matt Byrne, Winemaker Feleasha Prendergast and all of the winemaking and viticultural teams on these fantastic show results.
Fogarty Wine Group Gold Medals
- Evans & Tate 2021 Redbrook Estate Chardonnay – 97 Points
- Millbrook 2022 Regional GSM – 95 Points
- Deep Woods 2022 Reserve Chardonnay – 95 Points (Pre-Release)
- Evans & Tate 2020 Wild Cape Cabernet Sauvignon – 95 Points
- Evans & Tate 2019 Redbrook Estate Shiraz – 95 Points
Shop all FWG winning wines here.
