Wine lovers in Forbes were treated to some of the best wines in Australia on Friday night at the NSW Small Winemakers Wine Show public tasting event.
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A good crowd turned out to sample some of the 615 entries of this year’s wine show, including the gold, silver and bronze medal wines, following the completion of judging.
Forbes Youth and Community Centre was overflowing with approximately 2,500 bottles of top quality wine with entries coming from some of the best wine regions in NSW including the Hunter Valley, Southern Highlands, Canberra, Mudgee and Orange.
Following three days of judging, McLeish Estate’s 2007 Semillon took out the best white in show, while Dairy Hill Single Vineyard’s 2013 HV Shiraz was named the best red.
Treasurer of the NSW Small Winemakers Wine Show committee, Andrew Kerr said judging the best white and red is always a difficult decision because of the quality of the wines put forward.
“In the white, it was a close call between three or four white wines and the judges were split over the top couple of wines,” he said.
“They’re looking for specific characteristics to be met for specific wines…it really is a complicated process when it gets down to it.”
In all it was a successful wine show with a 39 per cent strike rate, meaning out of all the wines, 39 per cent received a gold, silver or bronze medal.
A total of 30 gold medals were awarded.
Mr Kerr said the quality of the medal winning wines was exceptional.
“It is better quality than if you went to Dan Murphy’s and picked out the most expensive bottle of wine,” he said.
“These are some of the top wines in the country and getting a medal and trophy at our show is just as prestigious as doing well at the Sydney Royal show, or in London or France.
“In the wine community it is a highly respected show with some of the top winemakers in the country exhibiting their wines in our show.”
Now the focus is on the annual presentation dinner, where the trophy-winning wines will be awarded.
The dinner will be held on Saturday, September 20 at the Forbes Services Memorial Club.
Cost is $80 and includes a five-course meal with all the trophy-winning wines.