The Australian Highlands Wine Show, held at the Gibraltar Hotel on Friday evening, September 29, awarded top gold to two red wines produced in the Southern Highlands. 

Bowral’s Centennial Vineyards won the Wingecarribee Shire Trophy for Best Shiraz for their 2015 reserve shiraz.

The Destination Southern Highlands Trophy for Best Pinot Noir went to the Rotherwood Estate 2016 Pinot Noir. 

Ken Cooper from Rotherwood Estate said the award show was a “lovely evening, made even greater by a win” for the estate, which is based in Sutton Forest. 

“This follows on from our 2015 [vintage], which won a trophy at the NSW awards and then silver at the national awards,” he said.

“This [pinot noir] is a little fuller than the 2015, but it is a beautiful, beautiful wine. It’s a Burgundian style that will only get better with time, but it has already been incredibly well received.”

A gold medal was also awarded to Cherry Tree Hill for their “Diana” Chardonnay, and a further 13 silver medals and 32 bronze were taken home by other local wineries.  

The Trophy for Best Wine In Show was snapped up by the Robert Stein Winery 2017 Reserve Riesling, produced in Mudgee. 

Now in its sixth year, the Australian Highlands Wine Show attracts entries from regions such as Orange, Hilltops, Mudgee, Adelaide Hills, Clare Valley and the Macedon Ranges in Victoria.

This year Toni Patterson MW chaired the team of four judges, who rated 150 wines from cool climates around Australia. The awards are the only of their kind that judge wines made from grapes grown at an altitude. 

Only wines made from grapes grown at 500m or above are eligible to be included in the competition.

This is important for local growers because it allows them to rate their wines against those that are made and grown in a similar climate and altitude.

Cool climate wines are often the last to ripen in Australia due to the altitude at which the grapes are grown, which makes it more challenging to produce outstanding wines.