Hahndorf Hill co-owners Larry Jacobs (right) and Marc Dobson specialise in producing Austrian-variety wines. Photo: Cheryl Smith
A Gruner Veltliner wine from the Adelaide Hills has taken home the trophy for ‘Best Wine from Australia’ at the Frankfurt International Wine Trophy 2025 competition in Germany.
The Hahndorf Hill Reserve Gruner Veltliner 2023, which was grown and produced in the Adelaide Hills, was judged to be the best wine of all Australian entries in the ISO 9001 certified competition, which judges over 2,300 wines annually from over 30 countries and 100 different wine regions.
In addition, the Hahndorf Hill Reserve Gruner Veltliner was the highest-rated wine in the entire Gruner Veltliner category of the show, outperforming top Gruner Veltliner wines from acclaimed wineries in Austria and Germany.
“This is such an exciting moment,” said Hahndorf Hill co-owner Larry Jacobs. “The Adelaide Hills has become the epicentre for this delicious grape variety in Australia, so it’s wonderful to have an Adelaide Hills Gruner shining so well on the international stage.”
In 2010, Hahndorf Hill became the first producer of Gruner Veltliner wine in South Australia and since then it has diversified into four different styles of the versatile white grape variety.
“Gruner is such a beautifully complex variety and is especially versatile at the table, where it has the ability to readily pair with virtually all foods,” said Jacobs. “You can match Gruner with everything from white meat and all sea foods to all spicy Southeast Asian dishes. It’s also especially magical with any vegetarian dish, and even your favourite rare beef treat such as beef carpaccio or just rare grilled sirloin steak.”
This is not the first time that Hahndorf Hill’s Gruner Veltliner wines have triumphed globally. A Hahndorf Hill Gruner was the highest-rated Gruner Veltliner at the 2020 Decanter World Wine awards in London and Hahndorf Hill has twice been rated by Austrian wine magazines as producing the best Gruner Veltliner wines in the world outside of Austria.
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