2010 China Wine Challenge Result

Trophy

 

Trophy for Best Champagne/Sparkling Wine

Tasting Comments A classic high chardonnay content bubbly!! Fresh bread, lemon zest citrus and a subtle white peach fruit note gives this wine real elegance and class. Fine bead with a generous bead and a long lingering presence along the palate highlights its quality. A must for all Champagne lovers.

Trophy for Best Old World White Wine

Tasting Comments Like its stable mate Dr L, this Riesling shows its class from its heritage, unique vineyards and clever winemaking. Vey clean and pure, the fresh lime juice and hints of honey add significant counterpoint to the riper apple and soft floral notes. Balanced with hits of minerality, this wine will age gracefully for many years.

Trophy for Best New World White Wine

Tasting Comments Clearly showing the benefits of a great vintage and some bottle age, this wine is near its peak and well balanced showing integration between the green herbal notes, ripe pineapple like fruit and focussed lemon/lime citrus. Hints of toastiness adds a welcome complexity. Great to drink now and through 2011.

Trophy for Best Old World Red Wine

Tasting Comments Very classical style with a great texture and lingering mouthfeel. The flavours of soft cherry and licorice combine with a light savoury rustic complexity. Full bodied, but supple and elegant, this wine combines weight and grace which should allow further improvement with age for many years to come.

Trophy for Best New World Red Wine

Tasting Comments Of all the new world red wines entered this year, this one gained rave reviews from the judges. Rich plum and mixed red berry like fruit notes in a perfectly weighted and finely structured wine. Ripe tannins are full but still leaving the palate juicy. All class. Drinking beautifully now, but will cellar for a further 5 years.

Trophy for Best Chinese Wine

Tasting Comments Restrained peach and melon fruit tones blend well with a creamy richness and hints of toasty oak handling. Well balanced, combining a creamy texture with focussed grapefruit like acidity adding clarity to the long fruit centred flavours. A great surprise package to come out of China. Would be a quality wine from any new world country!

 

Gold

Tasting Comments A well established family owned winery in South Australia renowned for Shiraz. Big and bold with great balance between the ripe jammy dark berry fruits, fragrant oak and dusty tannins. This label has had plenty of accolades in the past. Rich and ripe style which will cellar well for a further 5 years.
Tasting Comments A soft and fragrant aromatic wine with hints of light honey, orange citrus, white peach and talc. Very elegant on the palate, this South Australian wine is unusually Refined with a delicate texture enhance by a lingering finish. Already well integrated, It is great fresh, but will cellar for another three to four years.
Tasting Comments Ideal growing conditions have given the grapes optimal ripeness which has Produced a high quality wine. Mocha, chocolate, licorice complexity add to the rich ripe dark fruits and spicy oak handling. Full bodied but with a seamless texture leads to a long rewarding finish. Drink to 2018.
Tasting Comments Very fragrant with focused fresh lime citrus, green apple fruit and hints of flinty minerality. Great fine acidity balances this in a dry style which will age gracefully for many years. A fine floral note permeates through the core which adds real class. This is the true Australian expression of this noble variety.
Tasting Comments A great Bordeaux vintage showing ripe Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in a powerful style which has a firm grip from its ripe tannins, and fragrant oak maturation. A pronounced tobacco leaf note adds complexity and balance. Lovely cassis fruit concentration leads through to a long and full aftertaste.
Tasting Comments This wine has a classic minerality adding complexity to the ripe apple and lime fruit. The typical Mosel character of soft floral traces shine through in this off dry style. A Core of very fine acidity adds finesse and balance to the ripe but delicate fruit. Wonderfully pure, it will cellar well for another decade easily.
Tasting Comments This well balanced wine combines the lovely ripe dark cherry and scented violet like fruit with a savoury and rustic character. Hints of iodine and tar adds weight and complexity. Very supple with silky mouthfeel for such a complex wine. Great weight and palate feel. Drinking well now but will cellar easily to 2014.
Tasting Comments This wine has all the rustic earthy charm of the Barbera grape alongside the sweet red cherry/berry fruit. Fine dusty tannins give great structure and length to the wine. Very well balanced with a concentration which leads all the flavours to the long finish. Great drinking already, but will age gracefully for a further 6 years.
Tasting Comments One of the great red wine styles in the world, and this examples shows why. The texture is supple and fine for such a rich wine with fragrant fruit tones of cherry, Blueberry and the perfume of violets and dried thyme. A nuance of savoury bitterness adds complexity to the long finish. Will cellar for a decade easily.
Tasting Comments Great texture from crisp acidity allows the ripe yet restrained passionfruit and goose- berry fruit flavours elegance and finesse. Hints of richness with green capsicum and dried grass clippings balance perfectly. Crisp lemony acidity allows some good length in the finish. Drink young, but can cellar to 2012.
Tasting Comments Classic Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc the world has come to love! Fresh and expressive combining ripe lemon citrus and pungent passionfruit/pineapple fruit tones to the leafy green herbaciousness. Well balanced with crisp acidity, the wine finishes as it begins – fresh and zesty.
Tasting Comments New Zealand Syrah, who would have thought it??? This was the biggest surprise package at the 2010 CWC. Quite Cote Rotie like with peppery and gamey highlights, the ripe plum/cherry fruit is well supported by toasty oak treatment. Great now, but will not disappoint in 3-4 years time.
Tasting Comments Lovely supple tannins and silky texture allows the ripe dark plum and black cherry fruit to shine. Hints of herbal spice like dried thyme add both freshness and complexity. Elegant and refined oak compliments the fruit and gives both weight and length. Cellar through to 2013.

Silver

Bronze

Seal of Approval