Entries close on Monday September 2nd for the 40th Sydney International Wine Competition – the only international wine show that judges all its finalists in combination with appropriate food.
Wine producers from around the world are invited to participate, with entries capped at a total of 2000 wines.
After initial tastings, some 400 wines will be set aside for re-judging with appropriate food, leading to about 250 wines being awarded Top 100, Blue Gold and Gold medals, along with 25 trophies, which will include for the first time, a trophy named in honour of the competition’s founder, Warren Mason (pictured), who passed away earlier this year.
Competition convenor, Brett Ling, said that with Mason’s passion for good Chardonnay, it was appropriate that the Fuller Bodied Dry White trophy should be renamed as the Warren Mason Memorial Trophy for Best Fuller Bodied Dry White.
“The Trophy will recognise not just his contribution to the Sydney International Wine Competition, but his wider contribution to making wine competitions more relevant for consumers by introducing appropriate foods to be judged alongside the wines, which is how most wine is consumed,” said Ling.
International representation in the competition is set to continue to grow, with entries submitted from most major wine-producing countries, as well as some of the smaller countries such as Georgia.
Judging will take place in October, and provisional award and trophy winners announced at the start of November.
Online entries can be made via the competition’s website https://sydneywinecomp.com/ which contains full details of the judging criteria and judges’ comments on all award winners from last year’s competition.
With no minimum production requirements, this show is particularly applicable to experimental and small makers to test their wines alongside wines from major producers.
This year’s competition will once again be chaired by an international panel of judges, including six Masters of Wine.
Chef Michael Manners alongside Marcel Kustos from the University of Adelaide will once again partner to design dishes styled to complement the various wine categories being judged.
A newly upgraded website has been launched for the competition to enable consumers to review the comments of all judges and pair the individual wine with the dish it was judged alongside, with the aim of helping educate consumers about food/wine matching.
Entry forms now available: www.sydneywinecomp.com
