McGuigan triumphs at 2017 Decanter Asia Wine Awards

Congratulations to McGuigan Wines on winning two Platinum Best in Show medals for its Bin 9000 (2007) and The Shortlist Chardonnay (2016) at the Decanter Asia Wine Awards (DAWA).

The other Platinum winners were: 

• Curly Flat: Pinot Noir 2014 (Macedon Ranges)
• De Bortoli: Black Noble (Cross-Regional Blend) 
• House of Arras: EJ Carr Late Disgorged 2003 (Tasmania) 
• McGuigan: The Shortlist Riesling 2009 (EdenValley) 
• Tyrrell's Wines: Vat 8 Shiraz-Cabernet 2014 (Hunter Valley)
• Ulithorne: Frux Frugis Shiraz 2014 (McLaren Vale) 
• Wolf Blass: Gold Label Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 (Coonawarra)

More than 50 expert judges, including Master Sommeliers and leading palates in the Asia region, judged 3235 wines during DAWA judging week in Hong Kong earlier this month, the most since the competition launched five years ago.

Heavy haul for drinks association members

Members of the drinks association also took home a swag of Gold medals from the event, including De Bortoli for its Deen Vat 5 Botrytis Semillon (2013) and Show Liqueur Muscat; McGuigan Wines for its Vineyard Select Semillon (2006), The Shortlist Chardonnay (2015), The Shortlist Riesling (2008), The Shortlist Riesling (2016) and The Shortlist Shiraz (2006); and Taylors Wines for its Jaraman Shiraz (2015) and Riesling (2017).

According the judges, all awards represent brand innovation.

“Originality and terroir are the most important for a wine to win an award”, said Steven Spurrier, chair of the DAWA.

“Customers feel at ease and less intimidated, and added confidence when they see a DAWA medal on a bottle”, added Bhatia Dheeraj, judge at the DAWA, and 2017 winner of the Ruinart Cup in Australia.

How the wines were tasted

All of the wines were blind-tasted against their peers and given individual scores.

Wines that met the required quality were given a seal of approval (commended), or a bronze, silver, or gold medal.

All gold medal-winning wines within each category are re-tasted and a platinum medal is awarded to the best wine in each category.

Each platinum medal winner from around the world is then pitted against each other to win the Platinum Best in Show - the DAWA's greatest accolade.

See the results from all the winners here.