Wynns viticulturist, Cath Kidman has been awarded ‘Viticulturist of the Year’ at the 2020 Gourmet Traveller WINE Winemaker of the Year Awards last night.

Wynns has been well represented in these awards in the past, with Sue Hodder and Allen Jenkins named ‘Winemaker of the Year’ in 2010, and Sarah Pidgeon named a finalist in 2019.

Gourmet Traveller WINE has always considered work in the vineyard to be as important as that in the winery.  Chairman of judges, Peter Forrestal says

“Catherine Kidman shows how detailed viticultural investigation can have a significant impact on wine quality. She wants the vines to produce grapes that are concentrated in colour and flavour, and is looking for judicious water management to achieve this via research that includes the use of thermography.

“As our Viticulturist of the Year for 2020, we salute Cath Kidman’s meticulous research and the ways in which it impacts on the wine quality at Wynns in the short and long term. It’s valuable and impressive in itself, but even more important when considered as part of the contribution that the team of viticulturists makes to the quality of wine at Wynns” he said.

Cath Kidman says she is delighted to be recognised for such a prestigious award amongst her talented peers.

“I am truly humbled to be the 2020 recipient of the Gourmet Traveller WINE Viticulturist of the year award.

“I think that we can all say that being a viticulturist or winemaker this vintage has been tough! However, I am a true believer that adversity breeds innovation and more importantly, that we as an industry are resilient and supportive of each other.

“I have no doubt that the way we approach and do things in the future will change and I’m really excited by the opportunity that we have right now to maximise our learnings about our environment and vineyards and really push the boundaries in our understanding of how to grow our vineyards to continue to produce exceptional wines into the future” she adds.

In what is a big month for Wynns, the first Wednesday of October also marks the new vintage release for Wynns, coined ‘Wynnsday’.

This year, the 2020 Wynnsday Collection comprises five special wines from the heralded 2018 vintage, including the Harold Single Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon.

Wynns Senior Winemaker, Sue Hodder says the 2018 vintage saw our oldest vineyards perform exceptionally well.

“Wynns is fortunate to have many older vineyards and the 2020 collection, where we release wines from the 2018 vintage, reveals their individuality beautifully.

“We are pleased to share with you ‘Harold’ as our Single Vineyard wine for our 2020 collection. Notably, Wynns’ very first Single Vineyard label was the 2001 Harold Vineyard and, in 2013, Harold was selected again. The 2018 is an excellent continuation to beautifully showcase the quality and terroir of this special vineyard.”

The 2020 Wynnsday collection is available from Wednesday 7 October from fine wine retailers.

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