Organisers said the show was once again “brilliant” with 550 wines tasted.

“It’s called the Small Winemakers Show because it’s for small wineries, there’s nothing small about the show,” Andrew Kerr said. 

“Some fantastic quality wines were entered.

“Some fantastic exhibitors from previous years, who have always produced good wines, have come to the top again, And we got some wineries that have entered that we have never heard of.” 

The top red of the show went to an organic cabernet sauvignon from Horner Wines in the Hunter Valley.

Best white was awarded to a Coolangatta Estate semillon from the south coast. 

Locally, wines from Orange and Hilltops (Young) regions did very well. 

Forbes’ own Sand Hills port was awarded a bronze, one of only two fortified wines to earn a medal. 

Mark Watts said there were good numbers in popular classes but a couple of the lesser known varieties had also come to the fore, including a gewurztraminer and semillon blanc from Orange that earned trophies. 

“There were very positive comments from all the judges on the quality of the wines exhibited,” he said.

“We were extremely fortunate to have very strong judges here and there were some very constructive discussions on styles as well as quality of wine in a lot of classes.”

The excellent results mean there will be plenty of top wines – suiting all tastes - for the Forbes community to taste at Friday night’s public tasting.

Doors open 6.30pm -8.30pm, entry is $25 at the door and includes wine tasting and finger food.

The committee is also now tasked with pairing 10 of the competition’s trophy-winning wines with a five-course meal for the wine show’s presentation dinner.

The dinner is on Saturday, September 17 at the Forbes Town Hall, tickets are $125 and available at Friday’s tasting, BWR Accountants in Templar Street or by calling 0499 180 101.