IN THE 11TH YEAR of the awards, Michael Downer from Murdoch Hill in the Adelaide Hills, claimed the prestigious Riedel Young Gun of Wine trophy.

The award was announced at the POW Kitchen & Bandroom (at St Kilda’s Prince of Wales Hotel) and Downer said he was caught off guard with his win and didn’t have a speech prepared.

While Downer claimed the most coveted trophy, a number of other awards were announced at the event. The People’s Choice award – judged at two public tasting events held in Sydney and Melbourne – went to Peter Dredge with his Meadowbank Wines, a newly launched label from a well-established vineyard in Tasmania.

The 2017 judges included Nick Stock (Gourmet Traveller WINE, et al) Mike Bennie (Delicious, et al), Emma Farrelly (State Building), Philip Rich (The Lucas Group), Pip Anderson (MONA), Josh Elias (Alquimie), Rory Kent (Young Gun of Wine Founder and Executive Style) and Josephine Perry (Dormilona, 2016 Young Gun of Wine winner).

The full list of the 2017 Top 50 can be found on the Young Gun of Wine website, www.younggunofwine.com.

Source: Australian & New Zealand Grapegrower & Winemaker, July 2017, page 15.