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Latest e-Newsletter:
December 19, 2014
THE BOLD, ARE NOT ALWAYS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL
“The bold, are not always the most beautiful”.
Aldi’s $5 wine trumps many as consumer-friendly, quality ‘dining wines’ stand out at the Sydney International Wine Competition.
Two wines blended specifically for the Aldi retail chain – a $4.99 Spanish Tempranillo and a $6.99 Cabernet Sauvignon from South East Australia punched way above their weight, outpointing many far more expensive wines, in the Finals judging of the 34th Sydney International Wine Competition
The 2015 Sydney International Wine Competition was judged recently by a panel of 14 international and Australian judges, with the final selection of wines judged alongside appropriate food dishes to ensure that the results reflected the way most consumers drink wine – with food.
Out of the 280 wines awarded TOP 1OO ™, Blue Gold, and Gold accolades (from an Entry of 2000 wines), Aldi had six star performers, with the A.C Byrne Semillon and Shiraz retailing for under $10, and only the Tudor Shiraz ($12.99) and Veuve Monsigny Champagne Premier Cru ($29.99) requiring more than a $10 investment.
The Aldi Tudor Shiraz 2013 also won two trophies – the Mark De Havilland Memorial Trophy for Best Red Table Wine of Competition and the Perpetual Trophy for Best Lighter Bodied Dry Red Table Wine of Competition. The Aldi Champagne Veuve Monsigny Premier Cru Brut NV won the Marne et Champagne Diffusion Perpetual Trophy For Best Sparkling Wine of Competition.
New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir wines dominated their classes, with Marlborough’s St Clair Winery winning four trophies for its Sauvignon Blanc, semi-sweet Riesling, Shiraz and, as joint winner of the ‘Most Successful Winery of Competition’ trophy.
However, the NSW South Coast’s Coolangatta Estate produced the most decorated wine of this year’s competition with three trophies for its Estate Grown Semillon 2006, including the Joy Lake Memorial Championship Perpetual Trophy for Best Wine of Competition.
Riesling and Semillon wines were the stars of the Show, winning eight out of the 23 Trophies awarded, while cooler climate white wines from southern NSW and south-west of Western Australia also had a major impact in the white wine categories.
“Judging the wines that made it to the final rounds with food made a significant difference to the award winning wines because they are not just judged for technical correctness; that was done in the first phase; they are judged again for their harmony and balance, key to their ability to complement appropriate food dishes,” said Convenor of the Sydney International Wine Competition, Warren Mason.
The success of the Semillon and Riesling varietals highlights this, while Aldi’s consumer-focused blending policy is clearly succeeding because their wines were extremely food-friendly and well-balanced. The judges had no idea of the identity or the prices of the wines they were judging, so the Aldi wines succeeded in a highly competitive, totally open and transparent judging process.
“The bold, are not always the most beautiful”. said Mr Mason, referring to wines that might traditionally succeed in wine shows, but which may not work as well with food.
This view was echoed by first-time SIWC judge, Dr Sue Bastian, Senior Lecturer Oenology and Sensory Studies at the University of Adelaide: “With this show structure, the chance to taste a large number of wines which may normally suffer in score due to their ample tannin profile, sung with the food, yet more to my surprise, not as often as I would have thought. More reason to judge wines’ affinity for food. Some bold wines, which had clearly spent mellowing time contained in some very expensive wood products, did better by themselves as they swamped the flavours of what one would have thought as an evenly hearty dish. Pity! Something I will firmly iterate to my students from now on is, taste your wine with food before final bottling and selling.”
The view was supported by British international judge and Master of Wine, Tim Wildman: “...the Sydney International Wine Competition...is a truly unique wine show, characterised by three standout features that underwrite the integrity of the results. Firstly, the quality of judges was second to none, a tight group with great shared knowledge and experience. Secondly the unique triage system of two judging phases, the first round to sort out the wheat from the chaff, then a second round allowing for a more forensic appraisal of the cream that rose to the top. And thirdly, the presentation of professionally prepared dishes, beside which to assess the wines again to highlight any extra dimension the wines had to offer, that no other wine show I know of attempts to do.”
The 2000 wines entered into the competition came from ten countries, predominantly from Australia and New Zealand, but also Italy, France, Spain, Portugal and USA, as well as emerging wine producing nations such as China, and Thailand.
Exhibitions of all the 2015 Competition’s Award Winners will be held on Saturday, 7 February 2015 at the Menzies Hotel, Carrington Street Sydney CBD.
Session 1: 10.00 am to 12.30 pm. Tickets: AU$44.00*.
Session 2: 2.00 pm to 4.30 pm. Tickets: AU$55.00*.
*Includes 10% GST
Earlier e-Newsletters:
September 10, 2014
A GENUINE MISUNDERSTANDING
August 18, 2014
TO CELLAR OR NOT TO CELLAR?
August 1, 2014
CONFESSIONS OF A WINE DRINKER
July 22, 2014
JUDGED WITH FOOD
June 20, 2014
ONLY BUY ACCORDING TO NEED
March 10, 2014
TROPHY WINNERS - AWARDS PRESENTATION - EXHIBITION BOOKINGS
February 18, 2014
WINE TITLES COMPETITION WINNER ANNOUNCED
January 29, 2014
A FOOD-WINE MATCHING BANQUET MADE IN HEAVEN
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