Endeavour's Oakridge Wines wins Champion Victorian Winery at Royal Melbourne

Yarra Valley’s Oakridge Wines, the winery acquired by Endeavour Group in March 2021 with winemaking led by Chief Winemaker, David Bicknell (pictured above with Tim Perrin from Veridian Glass), was named Champion Victorian Winery at the Melbourne Royal Awards last week.

Scotchman’s Hill was awarded The Trevor Mast Trophy for Best Shiraz for its 2021 Shiraz and was also awarded Best Victorian Shiraz and the coveted Jimmy Watson Memorial Trophy for Best Young Red was awarded to The Old Legend, 2021, Grenache from Barossa Valley’s Hentley Farm which also won the Best Grenache category. This wine has been celebrated widely. It was awarded Best Grenache of Show Trophy at the Sydney Wine Show 2022 and the Barossa Valley Wine Show 2022 Gold Medal. (Pictured below are Hentley Farm's Andrew Quin and Siobhan Wigan.)

Melbourne Royal CEO, Brad Jenkins said, “The Melbourne Royal Wine Awards recognise and celebrate excellence in Australian wine making. The Jimmy Watson Memorial Trophy was first awarded 60 years ago and is the trophy wine makers from all around Australia want to win. Melbourne Royal congratulates South Australia’s Hentley Farm on being the 2022 winner.”

South Australia was the most represented state at the awards with 967 Entries (43 per cent of total) from 170 Exhibitors (almost 45 per cent of total).

The Francois de Castella Trophy for Best Young White Wine was awarded to the Macclesfield Grüner Veltliner 2022 by Longview Vineyard in Adelaide Hills. This wine also won Best Single Varietal Wine. Longview Vineyard additionally won Best Pinot Gris/Grigio for its Queenie Pinot Grigio, 2022 as well as Best Cabernet Sauvignon for its Devil’s Elbow Cabernet Sauvignon, 2021. 

The Douglas Seabrook Trophy for Best Single Vineyard Wine went to Black Label Emerald Syrah, 2021 from Gala Estate. This wine also took out Best Tasmanian Shiraz, and Gala Estate was also awarded for The Kym Ludvigsen Trophy for Viticultural Excellence, which went to Viticulturalist Marty Smith. Gala Estate is a family run vineyard in Cranbrook on the East Coast. 

Tasmanian wineries continued to garner major award wins with the Dr Tony Jordan Trophy for Best Sparkling, which went to House of Arras Grand Vintage for its 2014 Chardonnay and for the seventh consecutive year, the James Halliday Trophy for Best Pinot Noir went to a Tasmanian winery. This year, Lowestoft Estate Wines was awarded for their La Maison Pinot Noir 2021 for the second year in a row. 

This year the Melbourne Royal Wine Awards handed out a total of 1,043 medals, including 151 Gold, 254 Silver, 638 Bronze. The awards were judged by 29 accomplished experts in wine, retailing and writing. With 12 female judges, almost half the judging panel is female and it is the first year Melanie Chester participated in the judging of the show with her new title, Chair of Judges. She is also head of winemaking and Vineyards at Giant Steps Wines.