Gustovino

Western Australia’s best are recognised with the announcement of this year’s Wine Industry Association awards for excellence, as David Pike discovers.

THE Western Australian Fine Wine Exhibition attracted plenty of enthusiastic wine consumers last weekend with numbers well up on last year’s figures. Although a number of the State’s more established wineries didn’t take part, it was encouraging to see so many new labels getting out and showing their product to the public.

The Wine Industry Association has been progressive in staging the event, which was launched on Thursday at a gala dinner where the WIAWA announced the winners of its ‘Industry Awards of Excellence’. Awards are presented in recognition of contributions to a number of key areas in WA’s wine industry.

The major award of the evening was presented to Di Cullen for ‘Outstanding Contribution by an individual to the WA Wine Industry’. Vanya Cullen accepted the award on behalf of her mother who died in March this year. The award will now be known as the Di Cullen memorial award.

Other award categories and winners include:—

Visy Board Award for Most Outstanding New Winery: Rosily Vineyard

Dept of Agriculture Award for Most Outstanding New Vineyard:

Woodside Valley Estate

Supa Stik Labels Award for Most Creative Wine Label: West Cape Howe Wines

AHA Award for the Best Wine Tourism Facility: Sandalford Caversham Estate

Transtherm Award for Outstanding Cellar Door Employee:

Martin Miles, Xanadu Wines

Bentley’s MRI Award for Excellence in Wine Exporting:

Clairault Wines

CCI Award for Outstanding Contribution to a Region by a Winery/Vineyard:

Xanadu Wines

Aon Risk Services Award for Outstanding Wine Region/Sub-region: Frankland River

Australia Post Award for Outstanding Affiliate Member:

Albert Haak & Associates

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Speaking of wine events, the Burswood Wine and Food Festival takes place again this year over the first weekend in June. This is the event’s seventh year and attracts consumers looking to explore the world of wine and food. Burswood have added a challenge for both novices and those who think they really can tell the difference between a Cabernet and a Shiraz.

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This year on Monday June 1 at 1.30pm you can take part in the inaugural Western Australian Wine Tasting Championship. Set on two levels — for the amateur and those ‘professionals’ — the event will test your ability through a series of questions that WA’s only master of wine Steve Charters has set to identify eight wines from Australia and New Zealand. To enter, email the Burswood Food and Wine Festival through sam@cmsevents.com.au or phone 92742559. Entries cost $60 (team) and $25 (solo).

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West Cape Howe 2002 Cabernet Merlot 

rrp $17.00  16.5/20

Bright aromatic fruits with ripe plums, cassis and mulberries with a note of spice and tobacco leaf and vanillin-mocha oak nuances. The palate shows rampant dusty tannins with sweet savoury fruits, mulberries, cherries and blackcurrants that combine with a spice and herbal inference. It was an attractive drink that was a marvellous partner to my lamb rack the other night.

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Tassell Park 2002 Sauvignon Blanc

rrp $17.00  16.5/20

Tassell Park is a relatively young producer situated in the Treeton region of Margaret River. This wine showed some attractive herbal, herbaceous notes with an element of spice. The palate again showed those herbaceous characters and a complementing note of sweet passionfruit and guava. An appealing  drink-now proposition.