Wines by Geoff Hardy winemaker named Winestate Magazine’s Australian Winemaker of the Year for the third time

Wines by Geoff Hardy’s winemaker Shane Harris has been named as Winestate Magazine’s Australian Winemaker of the Year 2020.

Harris is also the first winemaker to be named Winestate Magazine’s Australian Winemaker of the Year three times, having previously won the award in 2012 and 2018.

The Winestate Magazine publication noted that, of the 27 wines submitted during the year, “24 wines made by Harris scored 4.5 or 5 stars, all judged completely blind by separate, independent panels, something Winestate’s managing director Peter Simic described as “an extraordinary achievement”.

“Shane has been the winemaker for Wines by Geoff Hardy since 2009 and acknowledges the importance of Geoff’s passion for viticulture and for growing only the best possible fruit when producing the best possible wines,” Simic said.

“Awards like these start in the vineyard, with Geoff growing outstanding fruit at our K1 by Geoff Hardy vineyard,” Harris said.

Before entering the wine industry, Harris was a chef by trade and still uses these skills to complement his winemaking philosophy.

“Everything I do is to preserve and protect what each variety and vineyard has to offer,” he said, “Sensitivity and a respect for the raw ingredient is something that is constantly drilled into you when training as a chef and for me it remains the starting point for all winemaking decisions”.

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