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Winner Details

New World: Other Red Varieties & Blends

including Mediterranean varieties

2019 Gold 5 Silver 8 Bronze 6 Commended 15
2018 Gold 6 Silver 12 Bronze 13 Commended 24

This is often where winemakers go to experiment a bit – less typical grape varieties, unusual blends, that kind of thing. As such, it’s also a fun place for sommeliers looking to add something a bit quirky to the list – often at a half-decent price.

Last year the number of entries here was huge – as was the kick-out rate. Clearly, then, not all experimentation is good… And it was more of the same this year: big flights, wide shifts in wine styles, and rather too often a yawning gulf between what the winemaker thought they were going to achieve and what they actually succeeded in doing.

It’s hard to be over-specific in such a wide-ranging category, but there were a few definite highs and lows. Maule was a definite (and surprising) disappointment, whereas Petite Sirah generally fared well. Italian varieties were well-received, but mystifyingly small in number, given that they’ve been touted as Australia’s next big Point of Difference.

Certainly, the Italian varieties definitely address two common criticisms often levelled at wines in this flight: they can absorb sun without losing freshness and have an ability to carry higher alcohol levels without becoming unbalanced.

FROM THE TASTING TEAMS

‘In the Maule wines I felt there was no buffering of fruit, just a hollow shell and a lot of oak thrown at it to make it more expensive.’ Carolina W Seibel, Moio Restaurant

‘A lot of fruit, ripeness and body. And massive tannins. A tough flight.’ Ross Antonelli, Hawksmoor Borough

‘Challenging. There were some very uninspiring wines within the line-up, but some were lovely at £10-£15 and would work well as an addition to someone’s list.’ Laura Rhys MS, team leader

‘The quality was not very high – funky wines that weren’t for my palate.’ Dario Barbato, Individual Restaurants

‘I was hoping for the alcohol to be better integrated, more depth of flavour, not just the fruit and sweet oak spices.’ Savvas Symeonidis, Gymkhana Restaurant

‘Compared to Italy, the New World versions have more bright fruit, more freshness and juiciness. Really pleasant, charming and affordable.’ Rémi Cousin, Le Gavroche

‘There was great value for money around £10 in the Italian Varieties flight, with wines that can be listed anywhere from casual dining to more fine dining. They’re really sommelier wines though – you need to recommend them.’ Olivier Gasselin, Hakkasan

Award winners

Found 34 wines

New World: Other red varietals & blends

Siegel, Unique Selection 2015, Colchagua Valley, Chile

‘Could be Chilean,’ guessed team leader Martin Lam correctly of this big, brooding yet aromatic Gold medal winner. ‘It’s the densely concentrated cassis and spice nose and palate,’ he said. Other team members also picked up clues, with Gymkhana Restaurant’s Valentin Radosav pointing to the ‘complex nose of baked bell peppers and an earthy, savoury, dense blackberry and coffee note’, adding: ‘The palate is smooth and velvety and the finish is long.’

£18.02 Carson Wines

Guenoc, Petite Sirah 2016, California, USA

This Gold Lister was praised by several judges for its aromatics and supple texture. ‘The nose is very present,’ said team leader Carlos Ferreira, ‘with black fruits, rosemary, pine, black pepper and leather… the palate is also very elegant with good fruit complexity and a beautiful finish’. ‘It’s delicate and juicy with a touch of liquorice,’ said Bianca Potenza of Bluespoon Andaz Hotel - Amsterdam, adding: ‘It’s also well balanced and good value for money.’

£9.29 Berkmann Wine Cellars

Emiliana, Coyam 2015, Colchagua Valley, Chile

‘Fluffy and gentle, an adult teddy bear’ was the somewhat eccentric assessment of this fine Gold Lister by Quentin Loisel of Restaurant Sat Bains. ‘It has such elegance and balance,’ he said by way of explanation. The Harrow at Little Bedwyn’s Sue Jones sang somewhat more conventional praise, describing it as ‘certainly rich, luscious and velvety’, and adding ‘it’s also full and ripe but with very good grip’. For Dario Barbato of Individual Restaurants, its Gold medal credentials were more simply found in ‘its structure, complexity and flavour intensity’.

£15.00 Boutinot

Bogle, Petite Sirah 2016, California, USA

For team leader Laura Rhys MS, this Gold Lister managed to balance ‘soft and supple black cherry fruit’ with ‘a bold and spicy tannic structure’. Dario Barbato of Individual Restaurants described it as ‘complex and structured’, picking up notes of ‘menthol mixed in with the blackcurrant fruit’, while for Valentin Radosav of Gymkhana Restaurant, a nose of ‘violets and sweet spices’ led to a ‘velvety texture and an earthy yet chocolatey finish’.

£12.77 Enotria&Coe

Trefethen, Dragon's Tooth 2016, California, USA

‘A sense of harmony’ characterised this worthy Gold medal winner, as Sue Jones of The Harrow at Little Bedwyn explained: ‘The dense black fruits are in balance with the vanilla and oak and the fruit finishes clean and with great length.’ ‘Caramelised pork belly with Chinese five spice’ was her lip-smacking food pairing. ‘A mesmerising style,’ said Quentin Loisel of Restaurant Sat Bains, adding: ‘It’s a wine of complexity and balance, with great potential.’

£25.17 Daniel Lambert Wines

Chalk Hill, Barbera 2018, McLaren Vale, South Australia, Australia

‘Wow, this wine is so fresh on the nose,’ began team leader Carlos Ferreira, going on to describe a wine ‘with lots of strawberries and cherries, with roses and vanilla on the palate, and a very fruity and elegant finish’.

£13.80 Matthew Clark

Heirloom, Touriga 2017, McLaren Vale, South Australia, Australia

‘An enjoyable wine,’ said Bianca Potenza of the Bluespoon Andaz Hotel - Amsterdam, which she found to be ‘slightly jammy, earthy with spicy black pepper and a defined freshness of the blend’.

£36.73 Heirloom Vineyards

Sur Valles, Santa Alba, Grand Reserve, Carmenère/Cabernet Sauvignon 2017, Colchagua Valley, Chile

This wine reminded Sue Jones of The Harrow at Little Bedwyn of ‘hedgerows, berries and summer fruits’, and she enjoyed its ‘big tannins, balanced with its warmth, fresh berries and a touch of oak’.

£9.50 Survalles

Lapostolle, Vigno, Carignan 2016, Maule Valley, Chile

Team leader Christopher Cooper enjoyed the ‘nice, dark forest fruits with a touch of red pepper and roasted herbs’, adding: ‘This feels powerful and poised.’

£14.47 Berkmann Wine Cellars

El Porvenir de Cafayate, Amauta Absoluto, Tannat 2018, Cafayate Valley, Argentina

Adam Michocki of The Glasshouse described ‘cassis, blueberry and black cherry’ notes, and thought it had ‘plum notes, sweet spices and extended powerful intensity on the finish’.

£7.65 Boutinot

Bogle, Phantom 2014, California, USA

Team leader Andres Ituarte described ‘dense blueberry and blackberry jams’ and found ‘lots of oak and vanilla, yet balanced with some wet stone mineral notes’. It was, he thought, a ‘very good wine for the price’.

£16.92 Enotria&Coe

Cannonball, Angels and Cowboys, Proprietary Red 2016, California, USA

‘On the nose there’s black fruits, with some paprika, leather and white mushrooms,’ said team leader Carlos Ferreira, adding that ‘on the palate it’s very spicy with dense black fruit juice, with a medium length’.

£15.50 Enotria&Coe

Fox Gordon, The Dark Prince, Nero d'Avola 2017, South Australia, Australia

‘Lavender, pine and eucalyptus’ were the dominant aromas in this exotic Silver medal winner for team leader Carlos Ferreira. He also found ‘black and red fruits’, and on the palate thought the wine was ‘very well balanced with freshness, a good acidity, and soft tannins’.

£15.49 Hallgarten & Novum Wines

Asara, Vineyard Collection, Cape Fusion 2015, Stellenbosch, South Africa

Quentin Loisel of Restaurant Sat Bains described this Bronze medallist as ‘restrained yet savoury, almost meaty in texture, yet with fresh and busy green flavours’.

£11.02 Asara Wine Estate & Hotel

Trimboli, Black Duck Durif 2018, New South Wales, Australia

‘Bubble gum on the nose with cherries and strawberries on the palate’ is how team leader Carlos Ferreira described this ‘full-bodied yet intensely black-fruited’ wine.

£6.05 Laithwaite's Wine

Kingston Estate, Echelon, Petit Verdot 2012, Riverland, Australia

‘Poppy seed and tomato leaf aromas,’ noted Olivier Gasselin of Hakkasan of this charming Bronze medal winner. ‘With fruits of the forest, the wine is warm yet assured,’ he added.

£14.14 House of Townend

Viña Requingua, Toro de Piedra, Petit Verdot/Cabernet Sauvignon 2017, Curicó Valley, Chile

‘Easy drinking and not too overwhelming’ was how Bianca Potenza of the Bluespoon Andaz Hotel -Amsterdam described this Bronze medallist, adding: ‘With its pure black fruits the wine is elegant, pure and subtle.’

£9.85 Survalles

Some Young Punks, The Squid's Fist, Sangiovese/Shiraz 2017, Clare Valley, South Australia, Australia

For Sue Jones of The Harrow at Little Bedwyn this wine had ‘green menthol notes with interesting savoury/animal flavours’ and she described it as ‘an enjoyable wine’.

£13.54 Bibendum

Zonte's Footstep, Canto di Lago 2017, Fleurieu Peninsula, South Australia, Australia

Team leader Carlos Ferreira found ‘black fruits and white spices, leather and tobacco’ on the nose, and described a wine with ‘chocolate, mint, some green notes and with the fruits still ready to go’.

£11.48 Zonte's Footstep