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Regional Updates, Vintage Reports, 2007 Shed Wine Show Report and Press Articles Now Available in NEWS.
KING VALLEY SHED WINE SHOW
What a Fabulous Success!!
300 Happy Tasters and 153 Great Wines
 Pictured at left are the public judges enjoying their task
The annual King Valley Shed Wine Show was held on Saturday October 4th, at Gracebrook Stables. This is a unique show in which the public is the judge.
A record number of people participated in the judging of the wines this year, with many from Sydney, Melbourne, South Australia, Gippsland
and all across North East Victoria.
For many it was the first time that they had been in this role. Their job was made easier by being guided through some tastings by a number of “Wine Wizards” - local wine makers. Written step by step guidelines were also provided, outlining the actual scoring system which was based on three characteristics; bouquet, taste and color.
The shed show is governed by just one rule… “It is for fun” and that was certainly adhered to by all participants.
Results are now available.
There were 153 wines on show from 22 King Valley wineries and several amateur winemakers.
There was a great entertainment program as well
with music and food demonstrations in a marquee on Gracebrook’s deck. The wonderful music was performed by Jazzaratta, Wangaratta Concert Band,
Enchorus Stage Ensemble, Ostinato and Wangaratta Ukulele band. Espresso on Ovens, King River Café and Rinaldo’s of the King Valley each did a
gourmet food demonstration.
The winner of the “Best Shed Wine”, made by an amateur winemaker was a Shiraz/Cabernet Sauvignon/Durif blend made by Russell Higgs. The grapes came from the Bettio and De Bortoli Vineyards in Moyhu. Russell was presented with $100 and a drum of Agrivive from Hybrid-Ag.
The great diversity of wines made in the King Valley was certainly evident. All the traditional varieties were on show, along with some little known ones like Barbera, Sangiovese, Tempranillo, Marzemino, Albarino, Greganico, Viognier, Nebbiolo, Arneis, Saperavi, Gamay and Graciano.
The Best White Wine in the show was the Brown Brothers 2006 Patricia Noble Riesling made by Cate Looney. They were awarded $500 worth of label printing from Hansen’s Printers. The Best Red Wine was the Paul Bettio 2008 Rose style blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir and Shiraz made by Damien Star. David Handley of E. E. Muir and Sons awarded Paul Bettio Wines with $500 of products.
Two other trophies were awarded - for the best wine in the show made by a small and by a large wine maker. The best wine made by a small winemaker was a 2005 Merlot made by Jo Hale of Rose Hill Estate. Jo was awarded a 1200 litre stainless steel fermentation tank donated by OP industries. Runner up was the 2005 Sparkling Merlot also from Rose Hill Estate. They were also awarded a Bendigo Coopers Spittoon. The Brown Brothers Patricia Noble Riesling took out the best wine made by a large winemaker and was awarded an oak wine barrel from Southern Cross Cooperage and a 12 month subscription to the Australia and New Zealand Wine Industry Journal sponsored by Wine Titles. Paul Bettio Wines 2008 Rose was the runner up and received a gift voucher from Fletchers Cleaning Supplies.
A new trophy this year was the Guy Darling Memorial trophy awarded to the Best Vintage wine. This award was created in honour of the enormous work Guy Darling did for the King Valley Wine Region. Guy was first to plant wine grapes in the upper King Valley and had a passion for vintage wines. The inaugural winner of the best Vintage Category wine was a 2002 Merlot made by David Heathcote of Moyhu Wine Company.
A new section this year was Matching Food and Wine. The white wine that best matched King River Café’s Quail Roulade with Pine Nuts served on a Panzanella Salad was the 2008 Chrismont La Zona Albarino. The red wine that best matched Espresso on Oven’s Asian Inspired Beef and Asparagus Salad was the 05 Chrismont Barbera. For each of these awards Chrismont received $500 dollars from Q-Exports.
There were also awards for members of the public who were judged to be the Top Tasters. This was judged according to a combination of the number of wines scored and whether or not they picked the top wines. Janet and Andrew Waddington were joint winners, tasting more than 120 wines and picking 9 of the winning wines. Janet and Andrew received gift vouchers from Elders and from Will Oaks Bed and Breakfast.
All prizes were presented at an after show party also held at Gracebrook. Delicious and unusual gourmet finger food was supplied by Ben Bonwick of King River Café and participants had their choice of 153 wines to drink with it. Everyone was most interested to find out the identification of the wines they had tasted during the day’s judging and to see how their assessments of the wines matched the overall results. Mr David Sutherland, of the Border Wine Room was in attendance and gave an informative presentation during the party. He was impressed by the quality and diversity of the wines. The feedback from the public was extremely positive and everyone encouraged KVV to continue running this unique event.
The King Valley winegrowing area in the North East of Victoria
encompasses the watershed of the King Valley including the Oxley
plains west to the Hume Highway at Glenrowan. The King River, which
has two sources behind Mount Cobbler in the Victorian Alps runs
approximately due North in a narrow fertile valley bounded by treelined
hills to Edi, just south of Moyhu. From here the river meanders
through the Oxley Plains for a further 30 kilometers to join the
Ovens River at Wangaratta.
Wine grapes have been grown on the Oxley Plains since last
century, with the Brown family operating their well-known, and now
substantial, winery at Milawa continuously from 1889 to this day.
In 1970, two innovative farmers started growing grapes in the upper
reaches of the King Valley in the area between Moyhu and Whitfield.
There are now 75 families in the King Valley dependant on grapes
as their primary source of income.
The King Valley has now developed into one of Australia's largest
specialist premium winegrowing areas, and represents about one third
of premium Victorian production. Apart from it's scenic contribution
as a grapegrowing region, the diversity of grape growing conditions
provides a range of products, which covers the full spectrum of
wine styles, from sparkling wines to fortified wines.
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