The 2023 winners of the Melbourne Royal Wine Awards have been announced. This year, the awards attracted over 2425 entries from more than 420 wineries across Australia, awarding a total of 1197 medals.
Established in 1884 with just 13 entries, the Melbourne Royal Wine Awards have evolved into a premier celebration for the Australian wine industry, providing a platform for wineries to benchmark wines against industry standards and receive valuable feedback from an independent panel of industry experts.
The 60th Jimmy Watson Memorial Trophy was awarded to Tasmania’s Lowestoft Estate Wines for its Lowestoft La Maison Pinot Noir, 2022.
This is the first time Lowestoft Estate has won the award and the third time a Pinot Noir has claimed the prestigious trophy.
For the third year in a row, Lowestoft La Maison Pinot Noir 2022 was also awarded The James Halliday Trophy for Best Pinot Noir.
The François De Castella Trophy for Best Young White went to Handpicked Wines for its 2022 Handpicked Wines Wombat Creek Vineyard Yarra Valley Chardonnay. The same wine was also awarded Best Chardonnay and Best Victorian Chardonnay.
Handpicked Wines chief winemaker Peter Dillon said the award was the icing on top of the cake of a very exciting year for the company.
“Wombat Creek is an incredible site, located at the very top of the Yarra Valley. It’s a site we have a lot of heartfelt passion for, having been custodians of it since 2016. Since then, we’ve been laser-focused on organic farming and regenerative viticulture practices, which has set this site on a path towards being fully organic. It’s apparent these practices have raised the quality of fruit we can source from the site and, ultimately, the quality of wines we can produce,” said Dillon.
With over 904 eligible exhibits, the Douglas Seabrook Trophy for Best Single Vineyard Wine went to McWilliams Wines Single Vineyard 2022 Shiraz, with the same wine also taking out the Trevor Mast Trophy for Best Shiraz.
In its first win at the Awards, Tasmania’s Freycinet Vineyard was awarded the Dr Tony Jordan Trophy for Best Sparkling with its Freycinet Vineyard Radenti Vintage Cuvee, 2016 Chardonnay, Pinot Noir.
The awards were judged by 35 wine experts, who tasted over 100 wines each per day over five days of judging.
Chair of judges Melanie Chester said the 2023 Melbourne Royal Wine Award results demonstrated the strength and diversity of the wine industry.
“This year, judges from across the Australian industry gathered with the rather daunting task of tasting just over 2400 wines, and the delicious wines on the bench on trophy day were a testament to the talent and commitment of our viticulturalists and winemakers,” said Chester.
Representing the Victorian government, parliamentary secretary to the premier Nick Staikos highlighted Victoria’s contribution to the industry.
“Victoria has around 700 wineries that contribute significantly to the states $24.5 billion drinks industry, generating regional jobs and boosting local tourism,” said Staikos.
Melbourne Royal CEO, Brad Jenkins said a total of 1197 medals, including 180 Gold, 296 Silver and 721 Bronze were awarded.
“We are grateful to all our entrants, judges, committee members and stewards for their tireless commitment to excellence and for making this year’s Melbourne Royal Wine Awards one of the most coveted in its history,” said Jenkins.
