Shiraz in London but not at Royal Adelaide

Enter Shiraz in London but not at Royal Adelaide was the Penfolds way of approaching red wine show competitions last year.

Penfolds must be sick of the way local judges give points to anything with an alcohol content of 14.5% or more. They tend not to get the top awards. Better to ignore the fantasies of the cool climate fanatics and go somewhere else for those stick-on medals so beloved of buyers in wine shops.

The Global Wine Masters is one such more favourable environment for Penfolds and others not ashamed of being warm climate wine makers. Barossa products go down very nicely with drinkers without the symbolism of an Adelaide trophy or gold.

The Drinks Business magazine, both reputable and readable, runs the Masters competitions. Its point of difference in a very crowded show market is allowing wines from across the globe to be judged purely on style and price. It boasts that “each tasting identifies the best examples of its grape variety, from all around the world and from every price bracket, meaning a Bulgarian wine can be tasted alongside a Burgundian without prejudice or bias.” With 22 competitions a year at $450 an entry (and another 15 Asian Masters at $288) it’s no doubt a nice little earner for The Drinks Business.

The £70-£100 medal-winning wines from the Global Syrah Masters 2022

No doubt a pleasing return on a $2,250 investment for Penfolds – a Master (the top award), three golds and a silver. And all the gongs were for wines with a label saying 14.5% alcohol by volume.

It was interesting that the judgng panel chair Jonathan Pedley MW said: “It was a relief that in the search for a little more elegance the Australians have not sacrificed the profound fruit concentration that makes their Shiraz wines so special. The fruit may be a tad less jammy and the oak use more subtle, but the joyous depth and density of their finest Shirazes is still there.”

Meanwhile in Adelaide

By way of contrast, the Adelaide judge’s comments on the 2018 and 2019 vintage shirazes where no Barossan got a gold:

CLASS 32 / SHIRAZ, 2019 VINTAGE
JUDGES COMMENTS – A few good examples of ripe fruit and focused winemaking. A lot of wines were looking
prematurely aged and tired.

CLASS 33 / SHIRAZ, 2018 VINTAGE
JUDGES COMMENTS – Majority solid wines in a quite stage of maturation, a few wines stood up with more life & vitality to deserve higher medals. A couple of warring oxidation results.