Young Gun of Wine Awards goes off with a bang

The Young Gun of Wine Awards was held in Melbourne on the 20^th of June to highlight and commend emerging Australian winemakers. Now in its eleventh year, the event has become the go-to for what’s new in winemaking talent and trends in the industry.

This year, the winners were selected from over 200 winemaker entrants. This was narrowed down to a Top 50, before the 12 finalists were announced. The award recipients were:

Wine Australia Best New Act awarded to Rob Mack of Aphelion from McLaren Vale, South Australia.

The People’s Choice awarded to Peter Bredge from Meadowbank Wines, a recently launched label from a time-honoured vineyard in Tasmania. This title was decided over two public tastings in Sydney and Melbourne.

Ocean Eight Winemaker’s Choice awarded to John Hughes of Rieslingfreak, Clare Valley, South Australia. The twelve finalist winemakers voted upon this prize. 

The First Drop Danger Zone awarded to Yoko Luscher-Mostert and Andres Mostert of Brave New Wine from Denmark, Western Australia. This trophy recognises the “most adventurous” wine of the competition and was claimed by Brave New Wine’s ‘Wonderland’ Botanical Riesling for its rich flavour of native botanicals.

And finally, the coveted Riedel Young Gun of Wine was awarded to Michael Downer from Murdoch Hill in the Adelaide Hills, South Australia. Downer’s award was presented by the 2016 winner of the title, Josephine Perry of Dormilona in Margaret River, and he also received a Liebherr ‘Barrique’ wine cellar. 

Upon receiving his award, Downer spoke of his gratitude for being selected.

“The 2017 Top 50 is an awesome list of winemakers, and then I felt making the Final 12 was such an achievement,” he said.

“To now be titled the Young Gun of Wine, and join a list of winemakers that I consider to be some of the most admired winemakers in Australia, is an unbelievable honour.”  

This year’s prestigious judging panel consisted of Nick Stock (Gourmet Traveller WINE, et al.), Mike Bennie (Delicious, et al.), Emma Farrelly (State Building), Philip Rich (The Lucas Group), Pip Anderson (MONA), Josh Elias (Alquimie), Rory Kent (Young Gun of Wine Founder) and Josephine Perry (Dormilona, 2016 Young Gun of Wine winner).

The Young Gun of Wine Awards gives particular congratulations to the four women finalists of the Final 12. This is highly commendable, as a 2014 study of the industry indicated only 8.8% of Australian winemakers are female.