Cowra wine wins NSW Wine of the Year for the first time

Cowra’s Windowrie Estate winery has been bestowed the ultimate honour at the recent2016 Pier One NSW Wine Awards, with their 2015 “The Mill” Shiraz named 2016 NSW Wine of the Year. Visitors to Cowra can visit Windowrie Estate’s cellar door, which is owned and run by the O’Dea family who opened Cowra’s first ever winery and started growing grapes in the 1980s. Their winning Shiraz was described by 2016 Chair of Judges, PJ Charteris, as “a wine that expresses its beautiful fruit first and foremost. It is great to see fruit and distinctive varietal fruit character as the defining features of a wine”.

The full list of 2016 NSW Wine Award Trophy winners includes:

• Multi-Color Trophy for Best Young Riesling ~ Colmar Estate 2016 Block 6 Riesling (Orange)
• NSW DPI Trophy for Best Young Semillon ~ First Creek 2016 SV Murphys Semillon (Hunter Valley)
• Trophy for Best Young Sauvignon Blanc ~ Brangayne of Orange 2015 Sauvignon Blanc (Orange)
• Longfellow’s Trophy for Best Young Chardonnay ~ First Creek 2014 Winemakers Reserve Chardonnay (Hunter Valley)
• Trophy for Best Young White Other Varieties ~ Tulloch Wines 2016 Cellar Door Release Pinot Gris (Orange)
• Trophy for Best Mature Dry White ~ Tyrrell's 2009 Vat 1 Semillon (Hunter Valley)
• Trophy for Best Light Red ~ Tulloch Wines 2016 Cellar Door Release Sangiovese Rose (Orange)
• Trophy for Best Young Pinot Noir ~ Rotherwood Estates 2015 Pinot Noir (Southern Highlands)
• Orora Stelvin Trophy for Best Young Shiraz ~ Windowrie Estate 2015 “The Mill” Shiraz (Central Ranges)
• Riedel Trophy for Best Young Cabernet Sauvignon ~ Ballinaclash 2015 "Joseph" Cabernet (Hilltops)
• Trophy for Best Young Other Red Varieties ~ Tamburlaine 2015 Reserve Malbec (Orange)
• Trophy for Best Young Red Blend ~ Pokolbin Estate 2014 "Phoenix" Shiraz Tempranillo (Hunter Valley)
• Australia Post Trophy for Best Mature Red ~ George Wyndham 2009 Black Cluster Shiraz (Hunter Valley)
• NSW DPI Award for Best Organic Wine ~ Tamburlaine 2015 Reserve Malbec (Orange)
• CiSRA Canon Trophy for Best Sparkling Wine ~ De Iuliis 2011 Sparkling Chardonnay (Hunter Valley)
• Trophy for Best Sweet Wine ~ Bunnamagoo 2013 Autumn Semillon (Mudgee)
• Trophy Best Dry White of Show ~ Tyrrell's 2009 Vat 1 Semillon (Hunter Valley)