Sydney Wine Show Snubs the Barossa

When it comes to the Royal Sydney Wine Show Barossa reds are a virtual nothing just as the self appointed wine guru James Halliday promised.

In a speech back in 2005 Mr Halliday almost sneered with delight at the lack of success of the Barossa, Langhorne Creek and McLaren Vale (regions he described as the birthplace of “monstrous red wines”) in the quest for wine show trophies. In the six years he analysed Clare Valley was the clearest possible trophy winner with 22. The Hunter Valley followed with 15, Coonawarra with 13, Great Southern with 11, and the Eden and Yarra Valleys with eight each. Cross-regional blends accounted for eight. The trio with their monstrous reds achieved just nine trophies between them.

And what was the reason for that poor showing?

“…  the composition of the judging panels goes a long way to explaining why Parkeresque wines seldom achieve any significant recognition. Under the Chairmanship of Brian Croser, there has been an emphatic instruction to all judges to reward wines with finesse and elegance, and to penalise over-ripe, over-extracted wines. I can assure you there will be no change of policy under my forthcoming Chairmanship.”

No change of policy is evident in the last six years of judging at the Sydney Show. In the 166 trophy winners listed below 27 were from Margaret River, 26 from the Hunter and 21 from the Adelaide Hills. The Barossa languished on five and only one of those was for a red wine.