| 39th Annual Wine Show 2008 | Wine Show |
| We have not yet received the
photo's from the wine show. Results can be downloaded here. |
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The
breakdown of entries for 2008: In total there have been 184 medals awarded
this year, comprising:
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2008 continues last year’s slight downturn in numbers – we imagine the drought has affected availability of good fruit. Nevertheless we received 553 bottles of very fine wines, this year including entries from 4 different states of Australia, and some of those winemakers made the effort to come on Sunday – a special welcome to you, and of course to our new and regular winemakers.
I wanted this year to particularly note the “Tim Wok”1 factor involved in conducting a show of this size, to the high standard we expect. 24 judges, 30 stewards, a network of 7 computers, the use of 30 trestle tables and 1000 glasses all make for quite an effort. The initiative shown by Show Committee and Guild members is something we simply could not do without! This is the only show we know of where winemakers receive scores segmented by Appearance, Nose and Palate, as well as specific comments on every bottle of wine. We set up tables Friday night, judge and enter the data on Saturday, print the results books over night, and share the tastings of all wines with you on Sunday.
The breakdown of wines sadly reflects a continued decline in the special craft of country winemaking - only 71 country wines this year (108 last year). We had hoped nominating Country Sparkling Wines as the Jo Ilian for 2008 might encourage both country winemaking and the challenge of making a sparkling. Unfortunately we received only 6 entries – but the consensus judging style could be used for such a small number and that was fun!
This year was our inaugural judging for the Bill Christophersen Memorial Trophy for the Best Previous Shiraz. Bill was a Guild supporter, judge and maker of amazing Shiraz including the acclaimed Tribal Elder. Sadly, Bill passed away early in 2008 and will be missed by one and all.
It was great to see such interest in our new class of Liqueurs this year. And we are considering adding special classes for Mediterranean wines in future years because of the increasing interest in different grapes and the high representation of these nations in our Guild! The guild will feature some of these in its monthly meetings to increase our members’ knowledge and skills. The Guild may also buy a batch of grapes and share with members as a specific exercise in winemaking. Please enquire about membership from any of us, our stand at the show or our website.
Once again I must thank our sponsors whose support help defray the major costs of the hall and glass hire, thus keeping entry fees at a reasonable level. I also need to publicly acknowledge the significant contribution by our judges. These experienced winemakers from throughout Victoria come back year after year for no reward apart from the gratitude of amateur winemakers and the knowledge of contributing to the joy of winemaking and appreciation. Perhaps one indicator of their success is that several of our regular entrants have in recent years stopped entering because they have turned professional! We miss their entries, but not their friendship and in due course their contribution as judges!
John C O’Callaghan,
Wine Show Director
1 Melbourne’s famous Lord Mayor John So, was explaining to a conference a particular achievement by Melbourne City Council and ascribing the success to Tim Wok. One conference participant was so impressed by the frequent references to the skills and dedication of Tim Wok he sought an introduction. He discovered that the Lord Mayor, in his inimitable pronunciation, was actually referring to “Teamwork”!