South Australia’s Kellermeister Wines is the toast of the Barossa Valley after receiving two gold medals and ranking as Australia’s best Shiraz producer at the prestigious Syrah du Monde international wine competition in France.

Kellermeister’s new flagship Shiraz ‘The Meister’ was Australia’s highest scored wine at the competition and ranked in the top five globally.

The Syrah du Monde is an annual international competition that judges between the best Shiraz wines from around the world.

Kellermeister’s 2015 Black Sash Shiraz also won gold.

The small family-owned winery from Lyndoch in the Barossa Valley continues to punch well above its weight and consolidate its reputation as a world-leading producer of Shiraz.

Only 30 gold medals were awarded in the entire competition, with nine going to Australian wines – five of which were awarded to Barossa wines.

Kellermeister collected two including the highest score of any Australian wine, representing a significant achievement for winemaker Mark Pearce.

“We’re over the moon with the judges’ endorsement of the inaugural release of my new flagship Shiraz, The Meister, which is another step up from our very popular Wild Witch and Black Sash Shiraz’s,” said Pearce.

“The Meister Shiraz has been a labour of love for me over the past few years, so to quietly release it and receive such high praise on the world stage is incredibly satisfying.”

Pearce said the Barossa is blessed with a legacy of some of the oldest and best Shiraz vineyard plantings in the world, with the advantage of an ideal growing climate for the grape variety and a rich tapestry of ancient soils.

“When we combine this good fortune with careful craft in the vineyard and winery, we punch well above our weight both as a region and as a winery,” he added.

The Meister is a wine made from the oldest and best vines on the Fechner family vineyard in Eden Valley, first planted in 1906.

Black Sash is a wine made predominantly with fruit grown on the famous Hoffman vineyard, which has plantings that are in excess of 100 years old.