Royal Adelaide Wine Show Dozens

For the eleventh consecutive year, www.winedirect.com.au are delighted to curate the Official Royal Adelaide Wine Show Dozen. This year we have been able to include a record five Trophy winners and eight Top Gold winners. 2019's Wine Show Dozens showcase superb wines… every single wine has at a minimum scored a Gold Medal... this puts them in the top 6% of all wines judged.Trophy winners this year are:

The Tilbrook Rasheed Trophy for Best Grenache and Best Grenache Blend – Purple Hands Wines Old Vine Grenache 2018
The Karl Seppelt AO Trophy for Best Other Varietal Red – Ferngrove Black Label Malbec 2018

The Piper Alderman Trophy for Best Rosé – Dowie Doole Rosé 2019

The BDO Trophy for Best Dry White Blend – Deep Woods 'Ivory' Margaret River Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2019

The Hurtle and Norman Walker Trophy for Best Sparkling Wine in Show – Wicks Estate 'Pamela' Sparkling Chardonnay Pinot Noir 2013

2019 saw over 2,500 entries at the Royal Adelaide Wine Show. Every wine being judged is tasted blind, that is, none of the judges know what wines they are tasting other than its variety and vintage. In total 5 judges look at each wine in a class, compare notes, argue and work out which deserve a Gold (less than 1 in 14 score Gold), Silver or Bronze medal, and indeed, nothing at all (about two thirds of all entries score nil, nix, nada). Such is the standard of competition that a lot of very good wines do not even score Bronze.

Where the judges can’t agree on a medal, and if the wine is under consideration for a Gold, they are recalled and tasted at greater length, again blind, by the same judges before being considered for a Gold Medal or consigned to Silver or Bronze. At this point, the Deputy and Chair of Judges look at the finalists and give the nod, or otherwise, to those selections.

Our buyer Matt who has judged 5 times at wine shows, (including twice in Adelaide) reckons the process is “fun, rigorous, tooth staining and fair to each of the wines entered and ensures that if a wine scores even a Bronze medal that it is bloody good.”