News

The International Wine and Spirit Competition aims to promote the quality and excellence of the world's best wines, spirits and liqueurs. Founded in 1969, it is regarded as the premier competition of its kind in the world.

All wines, spirits and liqueurs submitted are blind tasted in groups divided by variety, region and vintage as necessary. Awards are made on a points system and sponsored trophies are presented in selected categories. Technical analysis is carried out on Gold, Gold (Best in Class), Silver (Best in Class) award winning wines, spirits and liqueurs to ensure that all products are technically sound and will be of the same high quality when they reach the consumer as they were when our judging panels originally tasted them.

The reason for the blurb on this competition is that a new release from Georges Michel in Marlborough, NZ has received a very good review through this competition. The Legend Pinot Noir 2007 (about to arrive in Melbourne) has been awarded Silver (Best in Class).

There are competitions and there are competitions, and then ... there is the Sydney International Wine Competition.

This is the only event in Australia in which wine is rated against food. One of the main aims of the Competition is to offer consumers independent information to help in their choice of wines more likely to enhance the pleasures of the daily dining experience and, by so doing, to add enjoyment and contentment to their everyday lives. This is the main service the Competition offers.

Selador Wines strongly encourages their wineries to take part in this event, given the style of wines in our portfolio. The results have just been announced and we are thrilled to announce that three wines in our portfolio have been awarded a Blue-Gold Award, and two of these have gone on to be listed in the Top 100 of the show.

They include:

• Hastwell & Lightfoot Cabernet Sauvignon 2006, McLaren Vale, SA
• Lamont Pinot Noir 2006, Central Otago, NZ (also awarded Top 100)
• Patrick Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2002, Coonawarra, SA (also awarded Top 100)

Hastwell & Lightfoot have recently been awarded a number of medals for several wines in their portfolio at the Australian Small Winemakers Show.

The Australian Small Winemakers Show is the most prestigious wine show for small winemakers in Australia and New Zealand. The Show is open to those wineries which crush less than 500 tonnes per annum.

The following wines were entered with their results:

Hastwell & Lighfoot 2008 Chardonnay - Bronze Medal

Hastwell & Lighfoot 2007 Shiraz - Silver Medal

We are keen to announce the addition of a Verdelho to the Thomas Vineyard Estate range of wines. To date two levels of Shiraz have been produced (2004 being the first vintage release). Accolades and awards have consistently flowed from the 2004 and 2005 vintages for both Shiraz.

The Verdelho will be a lovely compliment to their range, to have a vibrant, crisp and youthful white to sell over the warmer months. The release will be a current vintage (2009) and should be in the warehouse in the next couple of weeks.

We are thrilled to announce that the Lamont Pinot Gris 2008 has just picked up a Gold and Trophy for top Pinot Gris at the Liquorland 100 Awards in New Zealand. To put this in perspective, a gold medal is awarded to a wine that scores a minimum of 18.5 out of a possible 20, and indicates the wine is truly outstanding. A trophy is awarded to the best gold medal winning wine in each class.

We decided to make the most of having all of our wineries in Melbourne at the same time, and paired up with one of our clients the Finest Drop Group, who own four retail stores in Victoria (Elsternwick, Hampton, Mount Waverley and Mildura).

The function room at the Sandringham Club was chosen as the venue and 70 guests attended on the night. An amazing degustation was arranged in which two wines from each winery were selected to accompany five courses. Each winemaker had the opportunity to introduce their wine and talk about their winery.

To celebrate the success of our trade tasting at Trunk, we decided to arrange a degustation event to showcase a number of wines from the portfolio. We were thrilled to have all the team from Selador Wines in attendance, including our interstate and international wineries. In addition a number of clients joined us at Sarti to experience the menu that Joe Mammone (co-owner of Sarti) designed especially for our event.

All the wineries in our portfolio will be joining Sarah & Jackson for a week of events in Melbourne. These will include client visits, a trade tasting event & wine dinners with the wineries.

Judy Coleman from Lamont Wines (Otago) arrives in Melbourne on Monday 17th August for 3 days.

Georges Michel from Domaine Georges Michel (Marlborough) arrives on Tuesday 18th August for 4 days.

Dawne & Merv Thomas from Thomas Vineyard Estate (McLaren Vale) arrive on Wednesday 19th August for 3 days.

Patrick Tocaciu & Luke Tocaciu from Patrick T Wines (Coonawarra & Wrattonbully) also arrive on Wednesay 19th August for 3 days.

Our Victorian wineries, represented by Lindsay Ross from Knots Wines (Bendigo & Heathcote) and Nicholas Clark from Amietta Vineyard & Winery (Moorabool Valley) will be in Melbourne throughout the week.

Please contact Sarah or Jackson directly if you would like to arrange a client visit. Also see the Events section of our website for more detailed information.

We are thrilled to share some great reviews, ratings and news from the ‘just released’ James Halliday Australian Wine Companion 2010

Firstly we would like to congratulate Amietta Vineyard and Winery and Patrick T Wines for achieving 4.5 star status, which means ‘Excellent winery able to produce wines of high to very high quality, knocking on the door of a 5-star rating and will have one wine rated at 94 or above and two (or more) at 90 or above.’

Specific mention should go to the following wines, flagged in this edition as ‘special interest wine.’ This includes:

Amietta Riesling 2008 (Geelong) – 95/100

Amietta Angel’s Share Cabernet Carmenere 2006 (Geelong) – 91/100

Amietta Shiraz Lagrein 2006 (Geelong) – 90/100

Knots Top Knot Sangiovese 2006 (Heathcote) – 93/100

Patrick T Museum Cabernet Sauvignon 2002 (Coonawarra) – 96/100

Patrick T Riesling 2008 (Wrattonbully) – 92/100

Domaine Georges Michel's Golden Mile Sauvignon Blanc 2008 has just been awarded a Silver Medal at the 2009 San Francisco International Wine Competition.

The San Francisco International Wine Competition, the largest, most influential international wine competition in America, is judged by a prestigious panel of nationally recognized wine experts. Judging is based on a blind, consensual procedure, ensuring that its rigor and integrity remain the nation’s most respected competition.