Trophies you can’t Fathom and Wines you can’t Buy
The first thing you notice when you check the winners in this year’s comp is that they’re mostly from Saltram (Treasury Wine Estates) and a couple from Jacobs Creek (Pernod Ricard). Wine companies don’t come much bigger than these two.
The second thing you notice is that you can’t buy the trophy winning wines, with one exception. Why do they do this? What is the point of running a comp like this to find our best Cabernet Shiraz blends and coming up with wines that aren’t released? It’s only going to frustrate consumers and reviewers like me.
Wines Made to a Formula
I suspect the Saltram winemakers took a leaf out of Wolfie’s book, worked out the style the judges liked and shaped their wines accordingly. I liked the 2012 Shiraz, which you could buy for just $17 at the time. More recent vintages have been less elegant, some reaching 15% alcohol. They introduced the Shiraz Cabernet in 2013 from memory, and the price is a tick over $20. Then came a certified Pepperjack Shiraz Cabernet at a price a tick below $30.
I’m not sure what the wine is certified for, but these are rich and robust reds with plush fruit and creamy oak, obviously designed to please crowds of big red lovers. Wine show judges fall for these styles as well, that hasn’t changed since the days when Wolf Blass won 3 Jimmy Watson trophies in a row.
Jacob’s Creek took out the trophy for Best Wine over $60 and that for Best Cabernet-Dominant Blend, both for its Expedition Barossa Valley Cabernet Shiraz 2015. The wine is not released yet.
Trophies by the Truckload
The Certified Pepperjack Shiraz Cabernet 2016 won the trophy for the best red of the show, and the trophy for best wine $25 – $60, and the trophy for the best Shiraz-dominant blend (and a gold medal).
A Stoneyfell The Baton Shiraz Cabernet 2015 won the under $25 category, and this is the only wine you can buy among the list of winners – for $14 at BWS. I haven’t seen the venerable name of Stoneyfell on a wine bottle for years, but it’s still owned by Saltram / TWE, and they’ve resurrected it to move some of their vast quantities of red.
Upside Down Results
Here’s how they judge the wines:
So why am I not jumping up and down saying: I told you that you can buy the best wine in Australia for $20? Because I checked the bottom end of the list where the bronze medals sit, and here we find a bunch of reds that bring the whole show undone:
- Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz 2015
- Wolf Blass Black Label Cabernet Shiraz 2014
- Lindemans Limestone Ridge Shiraz Cabernet 2014
- Hentley Farm The Quintessential 2015
- Elderton Ode to Lorraine Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz Merlot 2014
- Yalumba FDR1A Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz 2014
- Battle of Bosworth ‘White Boar’ Shiraz Cabernet 2013
- St Hugo St Hugo Cabernet Shiraz 2015
- S C Pannell Koomilya Cabernet Shiraz 2015
Magical Mystery Tour
Among these wines are some of our top reds, with prices in the $50 to $100 range. How credible is it that wines like Penfolds Bin 389 or Blass Black label or Yalumba FDR1A are bronze medal quality? Or that a Pepperjack red is way ahead of them in quality? Or that a $5 De Bortoli Sacred Hill Shiraz Cabernet 2016 is as good?
Yes, the $5 de Bortoli red is in the same bronze medal group as the Bin 389. The only conclusion we can draw here is this: the results from the 2017 great Aussie red competition are rubbish, another piece of proof that our wine judging system is broken.
Kim