The Daylesford Wine Show has continued to grow in stature and importance for central Victoria’s boutique and smaller wine makers.

Faraday vineyard Sheer Drop Wines added to its already impressive Show record taking out the Lake House Trophy for the Wine of the Show with their 2007 Shiraz which also received the Farmers Arms Trophy for the Best Shiraz.

The seventh annual Daylesford Wine Show held last weekend attracted a record entry of over 250 wines from eligible vineyards and winemakers located in the Macedon Ranges GI and the immediate areas which adjoin it including the Heathcote, Bendigo, Ballarat and Sunbury regions.

There are no literage or production qualifications, hence the Show is important to smaller producers in addition to a number of middleweight wine makers from the five regions.

The judging panel was chaired by widely experienced Victorian winemaking consultant Gary Baldwin from Wine Network assisted by panels of highly experienced show judges and winemakers.

The Show results were announced at the presentation dinner held at The Lake House in Daylesford on Friday evening.

Apart from the Wine of the Show Award and the Best Shiraz, Sheer Drop Wines also won the Scotts Liquor Trophy for the Best Sparkling Wine for their NV Sparkling Shiraz, with their NV Chardonnay/Pinot Noir also taking out a Gold Medal in the Sparkling Class.

The Deco Restaurant at Peppers Springs Retreat Trophy for the Best White Wine was awarded to Wightwick at Invermay, a small vineyard north of Ballarat for their 2006 Chardonnay.

The Frangos & Frangos Trophy for the Best Cabernet or Blend was awarded to Big Shed Wines at Glenlyon for their 2004 Cabernets.

Reviewing the results Chief Judge Greg Baldwin judging at Daylesford for the first year said he expected high class wines and he and his fellow panel members were not disappointed with a high percentage of entries winning gold, silver or bronze medals.

Baldwin noted that the Shiraz class, effectively representing wines from a cooler climate area stood the test particularly well with 55% of the wines entered in the class achieving a medal rating.

He added that some wine s entered in particular from the 2006 and 2007 vintages were reflecting the effects of the very dry and hot growing seasons but importantly were free of winemaking faults.

“It is important for a relatively small wine region to have a wine show where individual wines can be benchmarked not only amongst their like from the region but in relation to other regions.”

The Show’s Julian West Memorial Trophy for the Best Small Winery was awarded to Matt Hunter of Langanook Vineyard whose own label wines from his vineyard at Sutton Grange as well as wines he makes on behalf of other local grape growers have achieved significant success over many years.

Full 2008 Daylesford Wine Show results and further information can be obtained from the Show Chair Miranda Jones on 03 5348 7825 or kenmiranda@bigpond.com.