2016 NSW Wine Awards Final Results

Best Dry Red of Show
Windowrie Estate 2015 "The Mill" Shiraz

2016 Pier One Sydney Harbour NSW Wine Awards Final Results

The 2016 Pier One Sydney Harbour NSW Wine Awards has just announced the main Trophy winners for this year's Awards and yet again the results have excited judges, industry professional and wine lovers alike. 2016 Chair of Judges PJ Charteris commented on how the overall medal count was up again this year and said, "The most exciting thing was seeing the diversity in region and variety. NSW winemakers are having a red-hot crack at producing high quality wines from old and new varietals and this is a tribute to the passion and strength of the NSW wine industry."

The sold-out Presentation Lunch was held at Pier One Sydney Harbour on Friday 28th October, with quests of honour the Governor of New South Wales, His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (Ret'd), and Minister Niall Blair MLC, Minister for Primary Industries and Minister for Lands and Water, being there to say a few words and be amongst the first to find out which gold medal winning wines would take home the ultimate Trophies. Also in attendance were NSW Wines valued supporters Pier One Sydney Harbour, Wine Australia, NSW Department of Primary Industries, Multi Color, Longfellow's Insurance, Orora Stelvin, Riedel, Australia Post, CCL Label and CiSRA Canon, without whom the event couldn't take place.

During the presentations, President of the NSW Wine Industry Association Tom Ward thanked all involved and commented on the high quality of judges involved in this year's show. He also said, "This year we continued the theme of going to the regions for judging. We were lucky enough to spend time in the Hunter Valley and I think this is an unique way of judging that exposes not only the judges to the region but also allows the region to get engaged with the show – we appreciate all the people that gave their time to assist in the event. I am happy to announce that next year we are looking to host the wine show in Mudgee and working with them to deliver another great experience."

This year, Central Ranges wines (which incorporates the regions of Mudgee, Orange and Cowra) were the big winners, with 9 trophies, followed closely by the Hunter Valley with 8, and then the Southern Highlands and Hilltops also claiming well deserved accolades (please see full list of Trophy winners at end).

The champion of the Awards was Windowrie Estate from the Cowra, who were awarded the ultimate title of 'Pier One Sydney Harbour 2016 NSW Wine of the Year' for their 2015 "The Mill" Shiraz. The Trophy was claimed by winemaker Anthony D'Onise who was representing Windowrie Estate owners the O'Dea family. The O'Dea's started growing grapes in the 1980s and then opened the Cowra region's first ever winery. Their winning Shiraz was described by PJ Charteris as a worthy winner and "a wine that expresses its beautiful fruit first and foremost. It is great to see fruit and distinctive varietal fruit character as the defining features of a wine".

Another great achievement recognised at the Presentation Lunch was the work of Bruce Tyrrell who was awarded with the Graham Gregory Award for services to the NSW wine industry. Minister Niall Blair MLC presented the award to Bruce, commenting on Bruce's many years of hard work within the industry and how he had done so much for our state and country. Bruce very humbly accepted the award explaining, "I have just done what I thought needed to be done … like in football, you are only as good as your weakest player so anything you can do to help, lifts us all up." He then threw down the gauntlet to the other winemakers in the room, expressing his desire for the next generation to continue this work."

Tom Ward concluded by saying, "I look forward to the year ahead and am optimistic that we have an industry that is heading forward. I will leave you with some numbers to support that optimism; shipments from NSW-based wine exporters increased by 8% to $487 million in the 12 months ended September 2016.  This represented additional revenues of $35 million over the year."

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List of 2016 NSW Wine Awards Trophies:


Trophy for Best Young Riesling ~ Colmar Estate 2016 Block 6 Riesling (Orange)

Trophy for Best Young Semillon ~ First Creek 2016 SV Murphys Semillon (Hunter)

Trophy for Best Young Sauvignon Blanc ~ Brangayne of Orange 2015 Sauvignon Blanc (Orange)

Trophy for Best Young Chardonnay ~ First Creek 2014 Winemakers Reserve Chardonnay (Hunter)

Trophy for Best Young White Other Varieties ~ Tulloch Wines 2016 Cellar Door Release Pinot Gris (Orange)

Trophy for Best Mature Dry White ~ Tyrrell's 2009 Vat 1 Semillon (Hunter)

Trophy for Best Light Red ~ Tulloch Wines 2016 Cellar Door Release Sangiovese Rose (Orange)

Trophy for Best Young Pinot Noir ~ Rotherwood Estates 2015 Pinot Noir (Southern Highlands)

Trophy for Best Young Shiraz ~ Windowrie Estate 2015 "The Mill" Shiraz (Central Ranges)

Trophy for Best Young Cabernet Sauvignon ~ Ballinaclash 2015 "Joseph" Cabernet (Hilltops)

Trophy for Best Young Other Red Varieties ~ Tamburlaine 2015 Reserve Malbec (Orange)

Trophy for Best Young Red Blend ~ Pokolbin Estate 2014 "Phoenix" Shiraz Tempranillo (Hunter)

Trophy for Best Mature Red ~ George Wyndham 2009 Black Cluster Shiraz (Hunter)

Award for Best Organic Wine ~ Tamburlaine 2015 Reserve Malbec (Orange)

Trophy for Best Sparkling Wine ~ De Iuliis 2011 Sparkling Chardonnay (Hunter)

Trophy for Best Sweet Wine ~ Bunnamagoo 2013 Autumn Semillon (Mudgee)

Trophy Best Dry White of Show ~ Tyrrell's 2009 Vat 1 Semillon (Hunter)

Trophy for Best Dry Red of Show ~ Windowrie Estate 2015 "The Mill" Shiraz (Central Ranges)

Pier One Sydney Harbour 2016 NSW Wine of the Year ~ Windowrie Estate 2015 "The Mill" Shiraz