Bendbrook Wines owner John Struik (left) and winemaker Leigh Ratzmer.

Bendbrook Wines has won the 2019 Great Australian Shiraz Challenge best Shiraz of Show Trophy with its 2015 Goat Track Shiraz.

Bendbrook Wines has also won the trophy for the best South Australian entry at the 25th edition of the event.

This year’s event attracted over 440 entries from 63 regions which ensured the judging panels, headed by Sue Bell, were provided with a diverse spread of high quality Shiraz.

For 2019, the Trophy winners were announced online on Friday the 1st of November through a number of social media sites and the Challenge web platform.

The 25th Great Australian Shiraz Challenge edition received 441 entries, the oldest vintage entered was 2004, the youngest, 2019.

A total of 247 medals were awarded including 7 Trophies, 23 Gold, 54 Silver and 170 Bronze medals, highlighting the extremely high quality of entries with over 56% receiving an award.

The 2019 Judging panel consisted of Sue Bell (Chair), Liz Silkman, Shavaughn Wells, Reid Bosward, Simon Black and Darren Rathbone.

Entry criteria requires that all wines entered must be commercially available, labelled and on sale in at least one retail, cellar door or mail order “outlet”. The wines can be labelled Shiraz/Syrah and no vintage restrictions apply.

All Medal winning wines can be viewed at www.shirazchallenge.com.au/results