The Hilltops region’s Moppity Vineyards has once again stunned the wine industry, winning the Great Australian Shiraz Challenge; the most coveted award for what is Australia’s flagship variety. This is the second time Moppity has won the Challenge (last taking out the title in 2014), making Moppity the only dual winner and still the only winner from NSW in the history of the Show. Further, Moppity had two other wines in a tie for second place.
Often referred to as the “Melbourne Cup for Shiraz”, the show is the most fiercely contested in the industry, with over 400 entries from 60 regions around Australia. The show featured entries from industry giants, such as Penfolds and Wolf Blass and a host of entries from the traditional heartland of Shiraz; South Australia’s Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale.
The result places Moppity Vineyards in the top echelon of Australian winemakers. They won the trophy for Best NSW Wine, for the 2015 Escalier Shiraz (Moppity’s new flagship wine set for release in December), which went on to take out the overall prize for “Australia’s Best Shiraz”. In addition, Moppity had two wines tied for second place – the Moppity 2015 Reserve Shiraz and Moppity 2015 Estate Shiraz (which earlier this year was awarded “Hilltops Wine of the Year” in the inaugural Hilltops Wine Show).
Owners Jason and Alecia Brown were thrilled with the result. Mr Brown said, “We’re just so happy for the Hilltops region. When Alecia and I decided to move here in 2004, it was with the intention of making a style of Shiraz that would shake up the wine establishment in Australia. This area has such enormous potential and it’s incredibly satisfying to see the rest of the wine world begin realise just how special the wines are from here. The Hilltops region only accounts for around 0.02% of the bottled wine made in Australia. We’re minnows in a vast winemaking ocean. By sheer weight of numbers, we should be making little to no impact on the show circuit, yet Hilltops wines are routinely on the podium at major shows all over Australia and overseas. It’s the winemaking equivalent of Fiji topping the medal tally at the Olympics – unbelievable!”
Asked what made the wines stand out, Mr Brown replied “Our style is unique. Moppity Shiraz has a richness and generousity of Barossa coupled with the elegance, fragrance and restraint of a much cooler region. It can’t be done elsewhere. Our site at Moppity is also unique and this underpins the quality of the wines. The soil is sandy, gravelly and free draining, making it quite difficult to grow crops – and ironically this is the key. The vines have to work hard searching for nutrients and moisture. The harder they work, the more intense and interesting the flavour they develop. Struggling vines make great wines. The 2015 wines really are special. They’ve already amassed 6 trophies and 19 gold medals between them.”
This trophy brings Moppity’s tally to over 950 awards in Australian and International wine shows since 2009, making them one of Australia’s most awarded wine producers in recent years.
