Victorian Wines Show 2008

Chairman of Judges’ Report

It’s a great pleasure to be asked to Chair this Show. I believe the last time I judged here, Colin Richardson was still with us. I miss him and the midnight Cognac we would partake of after a long day of judging. Pauline Davis was directing us and we stayed in exactly the same Motel in Seymour, The Wattle.

Now Karen Docherty has taken up the Director’s challenge and we have a Trophy named after Colin.

To the wines: The total entries for 2008 were very similar to 2007 when one takes into account the late withdrawals. We awarded 41 Gold medals. That’s exactly the same number as last year!
So, despite the ongoing drought conditions, this Show continues to hold its own.

The current vintage whites were quite disappointing overall. This is certainly a reflection on the climatic conditions over the past couple of years. The young Chardonnays lacked structure, balance and flavour length except in the very best examples. The Sauvignon Blanc’s were of a similar vein.

In the 2007 Chardonnays there were a number of excellent examples of good fruit quality backed up by good winemaking, including clever use of lees contact and barrel handling with fitting oak selection.

Some of the younger Rieslings showed well but generally fell into the same problems as the other younger whites.

It was pleasing to see the excellent Marsannes and Roussannes in this show. Some, at eight years of age were remarkably fresh and vibrant while a couple of younger wines showed good clean acid line and length and will develop in the same way.

The Pinot Noir classes here are always good and while not as large as in previous years the top wines in these classes were of a high standard. These classes have become very important to the show and more encouragement needs to be given to a wider range of Victorian winemakers to exhibit.

The sparkling classes were not of a high standard and again this surprises me. Victoria has, in the past, produced some high quality sparkling wines but we saw too few here. The wines were often too broad and lacked distinctive line and length. There was a degree of confusion in the entries with many Rose or pink wines in the incorrect section. Care needs to be taken when looking at the catalogue and selecting the right class to enter.

As one would expect, the Shiraz classes were very strong. Entries were a little down perhaps due to the bushfires. The overall quality however is testament to the adaptability of this variety to a wide range of soils and microclimates. There were some great examples of savory, well structured and not over-oaked, wines. The better wines had persistent fruit weight without tending to over ripeness or over extraction.

Cabernet Sauvignon wines were also of a good standard. The best examples being those that had mid palate fruit without being over extracted or over oaked.

The level of Brettanomyces was low here, a credit to the winemakers and to the Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI) road show and general awareness.

Durif, as many of you know, can produce dark, tannic, brooding wines that lack any subtlety but we saw a number of very good examples this year. Great colour and strong fruit flavours without the overpowering tannins or extraction.

Merlot remains a challenge to us all and access to the new clones should be taken up as soon as possible by winemakers hoping to do this variety some credit.

My task was made all the easier by having good support from capable panel leaders in David Bicknell from Oakridge in Victoria, Peter Godden from the AWRI in SA and Mark O’Callaghan from Victoria. The quality of the other judges was very high as well and many of the associates could well be in judging positions.
This show provides a great starting platform to many aspiring judges. The number of wines per day enables both robust discussion and time for all of us to learn.

The Stewards worked very smoothly and no request was too hard. I make special mention of Lindsey because in his first outing in his senior role here he did a magnificent job and has stamped his mark in a most positive manner. The ladies catering spoilt us at morning tea and lunch and provided lots of laughter at appropriate times. The committee and everybody who helped just made our job of judging that bit easier, so thanks to all!

It would appear to be more important now than ever, for us to concentrate on making and improving our wine quality. To seek out and reward true regional differences and to define the link between site and finished wine will continue to gain importance in the overall standing that Australian wine will have in the International arena.

This Victorian Wines Show can provide direction and encouragement to many who wish to see this continue.

I recommend that you have a very good look at the wines from this show.

Tim James