The Sydney International Wine Competition will return this year, after a hiatus in 2020, with entries being accepted from 12 July, and judging to take place in late October. Provisional award and trophy winners will be announced on 8 November 2021.

While the uncertainty of international borders precludes the appointment of judges from further afield, the 2021 Competition will have a panel of 13 highly credentialed judges, including four Masters of Wine, from Australia and New Zealand, chaired once again by Warren Gibson.

Wines will be invited from across the globe, with entries capped at 2000, and – as is the stand-out difference with the Sydney International – the final 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.

In past years, up to 12 countries have been represented, featuring most of the major wine producers as well as smaller producers such as Georgia and Turkey.

With no minimum production requirements, this show is particularly applicable to experimental and small makers to test their wines alongside wines from major producers.

The Sydney International Wine Competition is the only international wine show that judges all its finalists in combination with suitable food dishes, to ensure that medal-winning wines are both technically excellent and relevant for consumers.

Medal and trophy winners are featured on the website alongside judges’ comments and the dishes they were matched with.

Full details of the competition’s 2021 schedule can be found at  https://sydneywinecomp.com which contains full details of the judging criteria and judges’ comments on all award winners from the previous competition.

Co-convenor of the Sydney International Wine Competition, Brett Ling, said that given the difficulties faced by the wine industry over the past year, it was important for competitions such as the Sydney International to proceed to highlight to consumers the exceptional range of food-friendly wines available to be enjoyed at restaurants and at home.

“This is a very important year for the Australian and New Zealand wine industries as they come out of COVID-19 and have to face additional issues with international distribution,” said Mr Ling.

“While there will be greater emphasis on wines from Australia and New Zealand this year because of logistical issues, our region has never been more open to competing against other international producers, so we expect very keen interest in the competition from across the world.

“Our judging panel this year will be made up of judges from Australia and New Zealand, which are traditionally powerhouses in the competition, so we can only hope that the trans-Tasman travel ‘bubble’ is floating by the time judging takes place in late October. However, we have built in contingency plans just in case.”

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