Cool climate wines from various regions across Australia were awarded with Champion’s Trophies and medals at the  2012 National Cool Climate Wine Show, held in Bathurst, NSW. With close to 1000 entries, 24 of these being new entrants to the show, the competition was of a satisfactory standard with the state of cool climates over the past two years being reflected in the wines.

NCCWS head steward Mark Haley said, “Cool climate regions have recently faced some tough conditions with the vintage classes of 2011 and 2012 quite poor, as reflected in the medals this year. Technically the making of the wines, with issues such as green vines, affected a lot of the classes. It was great to see 2009 and older vintages stacked up pretty good.”

It was the Margaret River region that caught the attention of all judges, with its quality flavours. Western Australia’s Howling Wolves Wines, 2009 Margaret River Shiraz, was awarded “Champion Wine of the Show”, “Champion Dry Red Table Wine” and “Champion Shiraz”.

The winnings wineries were from quite a diverse range of areas this year. Central West of NSW continues to present itself as an emerging cool climate region with Bathurst winery Winburndale, taking out a few Champion trophies for its 2009 Fontana Cabernet Sauvignon.

As one of Australia’s newest cool climate wine regions, Kangaroo Island also produced some quality results in this year’s show, from the award winning Sunset Winery. Announced as the Champion Sauvignon Blanc and receiving a gold medal for its 2012 Sauvignon Blanc, this South Australian winery is proving its reputation for producing excellent wines.

Other regions taking out the prestigious trophies include Tumbarumba (NSW) and the Tasmania regions of Huon Valley and Marion Bay.