Judging is underway at Pt Leo Estate on the Mornington Peninsula , after a year of uncertainty and some concern the show would not be able to proceed in 2021.

Mornington Peninsula Wine CEO, Olivia Barrie, said it’s an exciting time for the Mornington Peninsula wine community as they look forward to a more normal year ahead with regular trading hours returning and the ability to reengage with customers, restaurants, retailers and distributors.

“The wine show signals a bit of a return to normal for our members,” said Barrie

“The pandemic has tested all of us this year.

“We are both fortunate and grateful for the chance to conduct judging in the usual manner, ensuring we can continue the legacy and tradition of our wine show, and again celebrate the best wines of the year.”

The Mornington Peninsula Wine Show is a significant event in the regional calendar, giving winemakers, producers and grape growers the opportunity to assess and benchmark their product against the wines of their peers.

Winemaking is a seasonally dependent pursuit, thus the annual show gives producers and consumers the opportunity to understand the quality and achievements of the industry over each vintage and growing season.

Led by chief judge David Bicknell alongside two panels of highly experienced and respected wine judges including; Simon Steele, Steve Flamsteed, Tom Carson, Sarah Fagan, Marcus Satchell and Matt Harrop, the Mornington Peninsula Wine Show will follow established in-person judging procedures and protocols.

This year’s show includes 220 wine entries across eight classes, including best sparkling wine, best Chardonnay, best Pinot Noir, other white and red varietal classes, as well as provenance awards for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

The trophy presentation and celebration lunch will take place at Pt Leo Estate at 12pm on Friday, 12 November.

Barrie said the celebration will be more significant this year as it will be the first time members of the Mornington Peninsula Wine Community will have seen each other face-to-face in some time.

“It’s going to be wonderful to join together and celebrate the achievements of this year and simply check-in with each other after a tough year of closures and lockdown,” she said.

The wine show lunch will include a trophy presentation to the producers of the top wines of each class and an opportunity for members to taste the winning wines for 2021.

Information about this year’s trophy winners and a list of wines awarded bronze medals and above, will be made available to the public online at online at www.morningtonpeninsulawine.com.au following the presentation.

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