Harden’s Moppity Vineyards has stunned the judges with an unprecedented showing at the Great Australian Shiraz Challenge, winning the trophy for Australia’s Best Shiraz with their Moppity Vineyards 2013 Reserve Shiraz.
Now in its 20th year, The Great Australian Shiraz Challenge has become one of Australia’s most prestigious and valuable wine awards. It’s the definitive competition for Australian Shiraz. This result marks the first win by a NSW wine in the show’s 20 year history. This year there were 400 entries from 60 wine regions across Australia priced at up to $300/bottle, making it more hotly contested than any other Shiraz competition.
Owners Jason and Alecia Brown (pictured with the winning trophy) were thrilled with the result. In his acceptance speech, Jason said, “We’re both humbled and honoured to receive such a celebrated award and to follow in the footsteps of some of the truly great and iconic winemakers that have received it before us. We’re particularly proud to see this award presented to a NSW winery for the first time. It marks yet another milestone in the emergence of the Hilltops region around Harden NSW as a source of some of Australia’s finest Shiraz.”
The awards have previously been dominated by South Australian regions such as Barossa and McLaren Vale. Entrants included powerhouse wineries such as Penfolds, Orlando and Wolf Blass.
Jason said, “It shocked a few people that this year the winner was a small winery from an emerging region in NSW – it really was a case of David beating Goliath.”
The result caps off an incredible run of success for Moppity Vineyards. Jason said, “This year we’ve won 10 trophies and 32 gold medals at shows both in Australia and overseas. This one was special though.”
The results at the Shiraz Challenge were unprecedented. Moppity won a record three gold medals, all three being in the top 10 out of a field of 400 wines. Further, Moppity had two wines in the final showdown for the Trophy – another first for the competition.
Awards Presentation MC Rob Hicks said, “Not one winery has every dominated the awards to the extent that Moppity did this year. Their results are nothing short of remarkable.”
The Brown’s have been long time supporters of the Harden community, regularly sponsoring events and fundraising activities such as the Harden District Education Fund, Spanish Festival and the Picnic Races.
“Alecia and I are proud to be a part of this community. We employ locals and we share our successes with the community in terms of fundraising support. In that sense, a win like this really feels like a win for Harden; for the whole community.”
Later next year Moppity will open a cellar door and cafe. This architecturally designed purpose-built, state-of-the-art tourism facility will be the first of its kind in the Hilltops region.
Jason explains, “This region is producing some of the very finest wines in Australia yet it’s probably the best kept secret in the wine industry at the moment. We should all be very proud of the great wines that come from this area and it will be brilliant to finally have a high quality venue worthy of showcasing them to visitors.”
Jason and Alecia Brown will celebrate their tenth year at Moppity in December. Meanwhile, the Shiraz vines have turned 41; they’re among the oldest in Southern NSW. Jason reflects,
“In 2002 I started looking Australia-wide for a vineyard capable of making great Shiraz and finally settled on Hilltops in 2004. My mates in the industry questioned my choice ahead of the old guard of Barossa and McLaren Vale. Of course, you could make excellent Shiraz almost anywhere in this country but I felt that Hilltops would bring something new to the table. I describe it as ‘Barossa meets Grampians.’ Hilltops Shiraz offers the power and generosity of Barossa coupled with the fragrance, spice, perfume and elegance of Grampians. It’s unique and it’s a style I love. What inspired me the most was being on a journey of discovery as we tapped into the hidden potential of this incredible region and site. I don’t mind the underdog tag and I like the idea of achieving something that’s unexpected.”
Moppity Vineyards hit the radar with their first release, the 2006 Reserve Shiraz, winning Top Gold at the London International Wine and Spirit Competition. Jason adds, “To an extent, the result for the ’06 vindicated our decision to select Hilltops as our home but it was still early days. We didn’t really understand the site that well and the winemaking and viticulture needed a lot of refinement. It was a promising start though.”
Every release since then has won major awards and third party accolades have followed. Jason said, “With each year I feel we’ve improved the style. It’s more refined, complex and more expressive of the site – something we couldn’t have achieved in the early years without the knowledge we now have of our clones and blocks. We’re also using more whole bunch now and the move to large format oak (puncheons) has had a dramatic impact.”
The Reserve is only released in years where Jason believes the quality is exceptional. Consequently, it wasn’t made in 2011 or 2012. Jason explains, “A number of people have argued that the 2012 Shiraz was good enough for Reserve and I must admit it was a tough call to declassify it – particularly financially. Our lower tier Shiraz wines from ’12 ultimately picked up a swag of trophies and gold medals; the wines were very good. However, I wasn’t 100% convinced that it was as good as previous vintages. The integrity of the label is paramount. The six vintages have won a total of 4 trophies and 15 gold medals and I feel the label is beginning to earn some pedigree.”
The 2013 release marks a welcome return for the label and Jason believes it’s the best yet. He explains, “We were blessed with a brilliant vintage and a warm dry finish that delivered an embarrassment of riches across all eight of our Shiraz blocks. It was so good that we’ve released a one-off icon wine called Eclipse. I think it’s a ringing endorsement that the Eclipse was also vying for the Trophy alongside the Reserve.”
