MORE than 40 varieties of wine produced in the North East will be showcased in the North East Victorian Wine Challenge in September.
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In its fifth year, the wine challenge allows Alpine Valleys, Beechworth, Rutherglen, Glenrowan and the King Valley wine regions to benchmark their wines against similar wines in a competitive format.
Alpine Valleys Wine Region president Micheal Freudenstein said the wine challenge on September 6 and 7 had drawn the strongest entries to date.
He said there was a quality line-up of wines with 40 varieties represented and 33 individual varietal wines entered in 25 classes.
“We’ve got 160 entries, which is the most we’ve had, and we’re trying to grow it steadily and hopefully get 200 next year,” he said.
Mr Freudenstein said wines from each region gained points for their respective regions based on the score from a panel of judges.
“The region with the most points wins the coveted Challenge Shield,” Mr Freudenstein said.
Beechworth claimed the shield in 2015 for the second time in the award’s short history.
Trophies will also be awarded for wine of show, best sparkling wine, best white wine, best red wine and best fortified wine.
Mr Freudenstein said all five wine regions participated in the staging of the competition and a committee of representatives brought the show to fruition.
“The wine challenge is highly regarded within the industry, it has experienced judges and many classes which showcase the myriad varieties grown across the regions,” he said.
This year the judges will be Jane Faulkner (Australian Alternative Varieties Wine Show chief judge and wine journalist) as chairwoman, Justin Purser (Wine Maker Bests Great Western) and Leanne Altmann (Supernormal wine buyer).
Associate judges will be Toni Plabou (Gapsted Wines winemaker) and Daniel Balzer (Willem Kurt Wines winemaker).
Judging will be done on September 6 and 7 at the Ablett Pavilion at Myrtleford. There will be a public tasting of all wines on Wednesday, September 7, from 5pm to 7pm at the same venue.
Entry fee of $10 includes tasting any of the 160 wines and there will be snacks of cheese and biscuits.
Trophy presentations will take place at 7pm.