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Winewise judges sift for nuggets

Gold-medal wines compete to become the champion of champions, writes <b>Chris Shanahan</b>.

Chris Shanahan

Judge Lester Jesberg samples a red.
Judge Lester Jesberg samples a red.Graham Tidy

In late 2009, in the back of a taxi headed for the Macedon Wine Show, Winewise magazine's Lester Jesberg outlined ambitions he had for a grand final of Australian wine-judging events.

Jesberg's idea was to hold a "best of the best" competition, inviting only gold medallists from Australia's national shows, selected regional wine shows and special events, including his own Winewise Small Vignerons Awards. Then, recognising that many of our best producers avoid wine shows altogether, Winewise extended the invitation to successful wines from in its own regular masked tastings - conducted to wine-show standards.

Winewise conducted its first championship in 2010 and this year hosted its fifth event. Stewards and judges gathered between February 26 and 28 in the Black Opal Room, overlooking Canberra racecourse.

Glasses of red ready for judging.
Glasses of red ready for judging.Graham Tidy
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A broad church gathered on the judging benches for the final day, Friday February 28 - one winemaker (Fran Austin), one retail executive (Peter Nixon), one former lawyer (James Halliday), one former statistician (Lester Jesberg) and one former jockey (Deb Pearce, distracted, momentarily, by the horses training below).

The judges brought decades of experience to the tasting. And on previous days, the panel had included Winewise's David Yeates and Lex Howard, and Canberra winemakers Nick Spencer and Nick O'Leary.

Over three days the panel judged 480 wines (up from 298 last year), "in small groups of no more than seven [wines], and ranked in order of preference", Jesberg says. He attributed the surge in entries to better targeting of qualified wines, good recent vintages, greater producer awareness and "the Halliday factor" - a salute to James Halliday's unequal standing in the industry.

The wines were judged by variety and sorted by style, and in single-region groups wherever three or more wines turned up from a region.

Jesberg says a simple tally of judges' scores decided the winner for each class, with the rider that a wine couldn't win without a first-place ranking from one of the judges. He said the panels tended to become polarised over the more- interesting wines.

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The competition, he says, brought together wineries of all sizes - an assertion borne out in winners' list.

Halliday commented: "There's no other wine show like it. You see an amazing spread of big to small makers. It's not elitist, and you see an amazing cross-section of wines."

Halliday favoured the event's finely articulated separation of wines into regional classes, representation from all parts of Australia and the inclusion of so many harmonious reds from warm regions, unmarred by any over-extraction of tannins or excessive alcohol.

"There were so many lovely wines with little separating them," he says.

He admits the judging format allowed little time for discussion; but on the other hand, doing so wouldn't be practicable given the number of wines.

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In a subsequent email accompanying the list of top wines, Jesberg wrote: "Pinot noir and shiraz wines showing stems characteristics, together with good supporting fruit, were rated highly. Stemmy wines with under-ripe characteristics such as white pepper and green tannins were not.

"Similarly, overtly 'funky' chardonnays, i.e. those showing strong sulphidic elements derived from lees and solids, only scored well if they had the fruit to carry the complexity.

"The cabernet sauvignons were generally too dense and tannic. Somewhat surprisingly, a McLaren Vale wine triumphed over some highly regarded Coonawarras and Margaret Rivers.

"The win of the 2012 Wicks Estate Adelaide Hills Pinot Noir ($20 at the online cellar door) may surprise many, but it received two first-place votes (Halliday's and mine) and two second-place votes from five judges. I recently suggested it was the best Australian pinot noir for $20 or less in a Twitterpoll with other wine journalists."

Although no Canberra wines made the final cut, Jesberg singles out the following wines, saying "these lived up to their gold-medal qualifications": 2013 Mount Majura Riesling, 2012 Mount Majura Shiraz, 2013 Ravensworth Riesling, 2009 Quarry Hill Shiraz, and 2008 McKellar Ridge Shiraz.

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The final list includes many reasonably priced wines, including the Wicks Estate pinot noir mentioned by Jesberg and the humble 2002 Jacob's Creek riesling - amazingly for a wine of this price ($8.55-$12) still drinking beautifully after 12 years in the bottle.

Indeed, it's worth mentioning that Pernod-Ricard Australia seized all the riesling spots - a very reliable guide for riesling lovers.

The comments in the list of winners are Lester Jesberg's.

TOP WHITE WINE

Riesling

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2008 Richmond Grove Watervale Riesling

2002 Jacob's Creek Riesling

2013 Orlando St Helga Eden Valley Riesling

Semillon

2007 McGuigan Wines Bin 9000 Hunter Semillon

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2006 Coolangatta Estate Semillon

2010 First Creek Wines Winemakers Reserve Hunter Semillon

Sauvignon blanc

2013 Jarretts Orange Sauvignon Blanc

2013 Sidewood Adelaide Hills Sauvignon Blanc

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2013 Sidewood Adelaide Hills Sauvignon Blanc Cellar Select

Sauvignon blanc blends

2013 Next of Kin Margaret River Sauvignon Blanc Semillon (Xanadu)

2012 Xanadu Margaret River Sauvignon Blanc Semillon

2012 Warner Glen Estate Margaret River PBF Sauvignon Blanc Semillon

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Chardonnay

2011 Coldstream Hills Reserve Yarra Valley Chardonnay

2012 Penfolds Bin 311 Tumbarumba Chardonnay

2011 Xanadu Stevens Road Margaret River Chardonnay

Note: James Halliday did not rank the Coldstream Hills chardonnay first.

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Viognier

2012 Pepper Tree Wines Limited Release Wrattonbully Viognier

2013 Heafod Glen Swan Valley Viognier

Note: Only five viogniers were eligible and only two were entered. Next year viognier will be part of the Other dry whites class.

Other dry whites

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2013 Bleasdale Adelaide Hills Pinot Gris

2013 Rutherglen Estates Arneis

2013 Coriole Fiano

Sweet white

2010 Blue Pyrenees Cellar Door Series Botrytis Riesling

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2011 Gramps Botrytis Semillon

2010 Pressing Matters R69 Riesling

Sparkling wine

2001 Courabyra 805 Tumbarumba Pinot Noir Chardonnay Pinot Meunier

2009 Salinger Vintage Cuvee

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2011 Coombe Farm Nellie Melba Blanc de Blancs

RED WINE

Pinot Noir

2012 Wicks Estate Adelaide Hills Pinot Noir

2012 Montalto Teurong Block Mornington Peninsula Pinot Noir

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2012 Home Hill Kelly's Reserve Pinot Noir

Shiraz

2011 Thomas Wines Elenay Hunter Valley Shiraz

2011 Mandoon Estate Frankland River Reserve Shiraz

2012 Shaw and Smith Adelaide Hills Shiraz

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Cabernet sauvignon

2012 Shingleback The Davey Estate McLaren Vale Cabernet Sauvignon

2012 De Bortoli Estate Grown Yarra Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

2012 Pepperjack Barossa Cabernet Sauvignon

Italian red varietals

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2012 Coriole McLaren Vale Barbera

2012 Waywood Wines McLaren Vale Montepulciano

2012 Kirrihill Clare Valley Sangiovese

Spanish red varietals

2013 Moonrise Estate Tempranillo (Granite Belt, Queensland)

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2012 Bremerton Wines Special Release Graciano

2012 Eaglerange Estate 3 Daughters Limited Release Tempranillo

Other red varietals

2012 Dutschke 80 Block Barossa Merlot

2012 Shingleback Kitchen Garden McLaren Vale Mataro

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2011 Silverstream Wines Reserve Cabernet Franc

Bordeaux blends

2012 Clairault Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot

2011 Rosemount District Traditional Red

2011 Vasse Felix Heytesbury Cabernet Sauvignon Malbec Petit Verdot

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Australian classic blend

2012 Bleasdale Petrel Reserve (Langhorne Creek)

2012 Anvers Wines Razorback Road Adelaide Hills Shiraz Cabernet

2012 Longview Vineyard Adelaide Hills Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon

Grenache and blends

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2011 Rosemount GSM

2012 Shingleback Red Knot Grenache Shiraz Mourvedre

2012 Rosemount GSM

Other red blends

2012 Maximus McLaren Vale Tempranillo and Garnacha

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2012 Mockingbird Hill Clare Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Malbec

2012 Rosemount Nursery Project GMG

Fortified

Penfolds Great Grandfather Rare Tawny

Saltram Show Reserve Rare Tawny

Saltram Mr Pickwick Rare Tawny

From our partners

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