Minister Don Farrell with Willunga 100 winemaker Renae Hirsh. Image courtesy National Wine Show of Australia

An “incredibly beautiful” Grenache from a small vineyard in South Australia’s McLaren Vale has taken out the top award in the National Wine Show of Australia, the first time the variety has won in the show’s 50-year history.

Winemaker Renae Hirsch accepted the Prime Minister’s Trophy for Champion Wine of Show last night for Willunga 100’s 2023 McLaren Vale Grenache at the awards ceremony at Australian Parliament House. Willunga 100’s Grenache narrowly edged out the winner of the Len Evans Memorial Trophy for White Wine of Show—Deep Woods Estate’s 2023 Reserve Chardonnay—to secure the prize.

National Wine Show chair of judges Matt Harrop said the first-time win for a Grenache in the only national adjudication of Australian wine reflects a reversal of fortune for a variety that has long played second fiddle to more commonly known grapes.

“Grenache is riding the zeitgeist,” said Harrop. “It’s the hottest thing outside Pinot Noir, which took us by storm 10 to 15 years ago when Tasmania burst onto the scene. The same attention to detail is now being put into Grenache by smart winemakers in the warmer parts of South Australia,” Harrop said.

“Grenache was always seen as just a workhorse—overcropped, turned into rosé, used in blends – but there’s an amazing resource of old Grenache vines, mainly in the Barossa and McLaren Vale, and people are now looking after them, farming them properly, and recognising that they can really make something stunning. Willunga 100 and others like it are letting the fruit do the talking and creating incredibly beautiful wines.”

Harrop also praised Margaret River’s Julian Langworthy for his Deep Woods Estate 2023 Reserve Chardonnay.

“Julian has been making some of Australia’s finest Chardonnays for a long time. It’s as good as any Australian Chardonnay can get—an absolute beacon,” he said.

Willunga 100’s winning Grenache, sourced from its own estate vineyard in Blewitt Springs, was not the only highlight for the McLaren Vale producer. Its gold medal-winning 2023 Trott Vineyard Blewitt Springs Grenache was also among the five finalists competing for the Grenache Trophy.

Harrop said this year’s trophy winners were an outstanding representation of varietals, winegrowing regions, vintages and producers across the nation.

“Having trophies from 2024 all the way back to 2012 is extraordinary. I’ve never seen anything like this in any show I’ve been involved in unless there’s been a dedicated museum class,” he said. “Our judges are at the top of their game and they’re across the most exciting things happening in Australian wine.”

Of the 298 exhibitors in this year’s National Wine Show, a record 76 were entering for the first time. A total of 1,071 wines were judged by the 12-strong judging panel in blind tastings over four days. To make it to the National Wine Show, wines must have won a gold or silver medal at a qualifying capital city or regional show.

South Australia accounted for 35% of this year’s entrants, followed by New South Wales (24%), Victoria (21%), Western Australia (15%), with Tasmania, Queensland and the ACT comprising the remainder. South Australia and Western Australia took out eight trophies each, Victoria four, Tasmania won two, and NSW one. Every wine entered in the show, including the top trophy winners, will be opened for public tasting during the inaugural National Wine Festival at Hyatt Hotel Canberra from June 13-15, marking the 50^th anniversary of the National Wine Show of Australia.

The 2025 National Wine Show of Australia trophy winners:

Download the full winners’ catalogue here.

For more information visit the National Wine Festival.

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