winedirect.com.au

Another year has rolled by and winedirect.com.au is proud to present our Official Royal Adelaide Wine Show Dozen. Each wine is a 2018 Royal Adelaide Wine Show Gold Medal winner and some managed to score trophies, too. Trophy winners this year are:

The Tilbrook Rasheed Trophy for Best Grenache and Best Grenache Blend – Sister’s Run ‘Cow’s Corner’ GSM 2017
The Karl Seppelt AO Trophy for Best Other Varietal (Red) – Leconfield Cabernet Franc 2017
The Programmed Property Services Trophy for Best Other Varietal (White) – Redbank Sunday Morning Pinot Gris 2018

2018 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.”