Region’s fine wine recognised

WINE Geelong’s Steven Paul admits he had to pinch himself as he sat watching five judges taste the best wines of the region before they deliberated on this year’s Geelong Wine Show winners.

Like almost every industry, the pandemic had thrown twists and turns at our local winemakers, including the cancellation of the 2020 Geelong Wine Show and a change in market trends.

But this year – with dates scheduled at the start of 2021 and just over a week since Geelong and the Surf Coast ended a surprised seven-day lockdown – the judging has taken place, albeit without the usual public tasting on the day, and the medal winners have been decided.

Steven, the Wine Show committee’s chair and Oakdene general manager-wine director, said this year’s show was particularly important for the local industry and to see it come together to recognise winegrowers was quite an achievement.

“It’s been very hard to continually forge ahead and stay positive; there was no show last year so it’s been good to get together a COVIDSafe show,” he said.

“All the judges are from regional Victoria and out of lockdown areas; we’ve hosted the judges and the Wine Show committee in a bubble and been able to go ahead with the judging and pushed back the public tasting,” he added, paying tribute to the judges who travelled from across the state and volunteered at multiple wine shows, usually spread out over 12 months but this year, squeezed into just two months.

In another sign of the times, the official management of the wine show has gone virtual through the Australian Wine Research Institute’s Showrunner platform which accepts entries and, together with iPad-equipped judges, manages the judging on the day.

Thirty-six local producers have entered more than 186 wines, with new classes and three new trophies added to the show this year for the best sparkling, ‘other white’ and ‘other red’, recognising the increasing variety of wines being produced across the region.

“The new trophies are rewarding diversity; and this year we have a new class, early-bottled red,” Steven said, explaining the addition captured the 2020-21 bottled reds.

“We’ve got to make sure the show stays relevant and evolves with the region and with the market.”

Steven said while growers were experimenting with new varieties, changing the range of local wines available, COVID restrictions had also changed the market and sales of wine over the past 18 months.

“We’re selling different wines; the wines that used to be for cafes and weddings haven’t been in demand because there hasn’t been that market.

“Yet in retail, people have been spending more on wine and producers are selling higher volumes of higher priced wines.”

But while wine lovers have had plenty of time at home to enjoy a glass or two, Steven said, like everyone, wineries had missed that face-to-face interaction at cellar doors and events.

“With anything, it’s nice to have a story and a face.”

Wine Geelong has scheduled a 2021 Geelong Wine Show Awards Dinner at Fyansford’s Provenance Winery, where the judging took place last week, for November 20, dependent on restrictions.

The local winegrowers association also hopes it can host public tastings in the near future and provide an opportunity for the wider community to try the best locally produced wines the region has to offer.