CANADIAN WINES STAND TALL IN COMPETITION DOWN UNDER

An Okanagan Syrah took top honours against strong competition and a Niagara Riesling once again claimed best in class at the 2018 Six Nations Wine Challenge.

It was the best showing to date for Canadian wineries at one of the most prestigious annual wine shows in the world.

The Six Nations Wine Challenge engages one of the leading wine critics in Australia, Canada, Chile, New Zealand, South Africa and the United States to invite the top 100 wines the country offers for judging. For the past three years, I’ve been proud to represent Team Canada.

The six critics then form the panel of judges that assess the 600 wines in Sydney, across 16 classes, to find some of the greatest wines of the new world producing nations.

In addition to the two trophy winners, Canadian wineries claimed two runner-up awards, 10 double golds and 20 gold medals. We dominated the 2018 Riesling class and achieved significant results in the White Blends, Syrah, Cabernet Franc and Dessert Wines classes.

New Zealand wineries took home the Wine of Show and Top Red of Show awards. Sacred Hill Riflemans Chardonnay 2016 was awarded Wine of Show, while Akarua Limited Edition Kolo Pinot Noir 2015 collected the Red Wine of Show honour. New Zealand finished as the Nation of Show.

“There is no wine competition quite like the Six Nations,” explains Michael Fridjhon, South African Judge and Chairman of Judges 2018.

“Producers are invited to participate and are told very precisely which wines are required and for which class. For these wines to have been selected to represent their respective countries, they will already have garnered multiple awards and stratospheric ratings. This means that there’s an evenness to their quality, which makes judging them ridiculously challenging.”

Laughing Stock 2016 Syrah proved to be one of the biggest surprises this year, landing the hotly contested and sought after Shiraz Trophy 2018.

Thirty Bench 2016 Winemaker’s Blend Riesling followed on the success of its 2015 vintage and took the Trophy for Canada in the Riesling category.

Canadian wineries also shared the runner-up/double gold award in the Riesling class after a taste-off couldn’t break the tie.

Thirty Bench 2016 Small Lot Woodpost Vineyard Riesling and Two Sisters Winery 2016 Riesling shared the runner-up citation.

For full results and more information, see sixnationswine.com.au