Margaret River Wine Association

We are thrilled to have just completed a very successful China Wine Buyers Tour. The 11 delegates, visiting from mainland China as well as Hong Kong, represented businesses from Cathay Pacific, Little Red Book, The Wine Gallery, Winelane trading, Shanghai YuJie Wine Co & more! Our guests were involved in a range of educational Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon masterclasses, discussions around the regional Shiraz style and a seafood dinner to celebrate our SSB & SBS blends. During their 3 days in Margaret River, the guests were hosted on an immersive itinerary, prepared by Liz Mencel, Tony Fletcher, Amanda Whiteland and Grace Pigram, meeting winemakers, experiencing the breathtaking natural beauty and tasting a range of the region's fine wines that we hope to see available in China soon. A massive thank you to all the wineries and their teams that hosted our guests; Fraser Gallop Estate, Wills Domain, McHenry Hohnen , Leeuwin Estate, Lenton Brae and Howard Park Wines, and everyone that showcased their wines. Also a big thank you to Sean at Ovis Creative for translating and capturing their experience, Johnno at Wine for Dudes | Margaret River Wine Tours for keeping our guests safe on the road, Iszaac Webb at Undalup Association for a beautiful Welcome to Country ceremony. The China Wine Buyer tour was made possible through the support of the South West Development Commission, WA Wines to the World program which is coordinated by Wines of Western Australia in conjunction with Hydra Consulting.

We are pleased to announce that Grace Pigram has joined the Margaret River Wine Association team in a contract role focused on Export and Brand Development, supported by the WA Wines to the World program. Many of our members may already be familiar with Grace through her previous experience at Vasse Felix , as well as her work with MRWA in managing the Wine Show Gala events in both 2022 and 2023. We are excited to welcome Grace to the team and are confident that her expertise, enthusiasm, and local industry knowledge will be invaluable in supporting our members and driving the growth of Margaret River’s wine exports and brand presence.

🎙 Episode 179 of The Drinking Hour Podcast with David Kermode has just dropped, featuring IWSC - Club Oenologique wine judging committee member Alex Hunt MW and leading sommelier-turned-communicator, Shanteh Wale. They discuss their June visit to Margaret River for the IWSC judging at Clairault Streicker Cellar Door (pictured). 🎧 Listen at https://lnkd.in/geRiv6wi 🛒 Shop some of the gold medal wines from this year's judging, featured at the end of this episode. 🥇Fermoy Estate Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2022 🥇Flametree Wines Chardonnay 2023 🥇Deep Woods Estate Reserve Chardonnay 2020 🥇Churchview Estate The Bartondale Chardonnay 2023  🥇Singlefile Wines The Vivienne Denmark Chardonnay 2021 This program was supported by WA Wines to the World, Department of Primary Industries & Regional Development, Wines of Western Australia and the Margaret River Wine Association.

We would like to send a huge congratulations to the team at Forester Estate for being awarded The Endeavour Supplier of Year Supply Chain Award. It is so wonderful and heartening to see a small family owned and run business from the remote Margaret River Wine Region being celebrated on this national stage. As Craig Douglas said, they were recognised amongst "many giants of the liquor and drinks industry" and we are so excited for them.

Last Friday night, we brought the Margaret River Next Crop participants together with industry and community leaders to discuss their pitch ideas for the Next 50 Years of Margaret River Wine Region. It was a great night with some great thought leadership. Thank you to our venue hosts Howard Park Wines, Richard Burch and team, and also our guests Andrea Selvey and Julia Meldrum from the Shire of Augusta Margaret River, Larry Jorgensen of Wines of Western Australia, Ashley Clements of South West Development Commission, Jenny Lee of Margaret River Busselton Tourism Association, Annie McFie of Margaret River Business Network, Jon Berry of Department of Primary Industries & Regional Development, Rachel Triggs of Australian Women in Wine Board, Australian Grape & Wine Committee & Adelaide University Transition Council Secretary, Nick James-Martin of Wines of Merritt and Keith Mugford of Moss Wood! Lastly, it would not be possible without the program supporters Wine Australia, Eloise Jarvis, Natasha Teakle and Amanda Whiteland.

Congratulations to Darran Stone for winning the Chardonnay Top Gold and Best of Region Trophy for Margaret River, at the 2024 James Halliday Australian Chardonnay and Cabernet Challenge, for the 2023 Stone + Thunder Calm Before The Storm Chardonnay. This is even more special given it is the first release of this wine! Whilst certainly not the first release or first Trophy for the Xanadu Wines Cabernet Sauvignon, it still a great result for a great wine. Congratulations to all trophy and medal winners.

The JAMES HALLIDAY AUSTRALIAN CHARDONNAY & CABERNET CHALLENGE is a celebration of the world’s most famous two varieties and Australia’s outstanding regional diversity. In genuine regional collaboration, the Margaret River Wine Association and Wine Yarra Valley jointly run the Chardonnay and Cabernet Challenges in alternate years. The 2024 judging of 622 wines from 37 regions was held in Margaret River at McHenry Hohnen winery last week. 20 Regional and 2 Overall Trophies were awarded at this year! Congratulations to 🏆 Briar Ridge Vineyard Block 7 Chardonnay 2023 from the #OrangeWineRegion, and 🏆 Forest Hill Vineyard Block 5 Cabernet Sauvignon 2023 from the #GreatSouthern for being the 2024 Challenge Trophy Winners! 🏆 Plus Chardonnay ‘Best of Region’ Winners: Adelaide Hills: Orlando Lyndale Chardonnay 2022 Beechworth: Brokenwood Wines Indigo Vineyard Chardonnay 2022 Eden Valley: St Hugo Wines Eden Valley Chardonnay 2023 Hunter Valley: Silkman Wines Reserve Chardonnay 2023 Langhorne Creek: Saddler's Creek Wines Winemaker's Craft Pump Shed Chardonnay 2023 Margaret River: Stones + Thunder Calm Before The Storm Chardonnay 2023 Mornington Peninsula: Handpicked® Wines Wines Collection Mornington Peninsula Chardonnay 2022 Pemberton: Below & Above Wines Chardonnay 2020 Sunbury: Marnong Estate Chardonnay 2022 Tasmania: Handpicked® Wines Wines Collection Tasmania Chardonnay 2022 Tumbarumba: Hungerford Hill Wines Chardonnay 2023 Yarra Valley: Handpicked® Wines Wines Collection Yarra Valley Chardonnay 2022 🏆 Plus Cabernet ‘Best of Region’ Winners: Barossa Valley: PETER LEHMANN WINES PTY LIMITED The Barossan Cabernet Sauvignon 2022 Clare Valley: Knappstein Wines Cabernet Sauvignon 2022 Coonawarra: Nightfall Wines Draco Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 Margaret River: Xanadu Wines Cabernet Sauvignon 2022 McLaren Vale: Chapel Hill Winery The MV McLaren Vale Cabernet Sauvignon 2022 Yarra Valley: Giant Steps Wines Sexton Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2022 The 2024 Trophies are presented by RIEDEL Australia & New Zealand The full results are available at https://lnkd.in/dDVPxt8z   Judging was led by Adam Wadewitz and he was joined by Adrian Sparks, Alister Timms, Gabrielle Poy, Glenn Barry, Livia Maiorana, Matt Buchan, Michael Downer, Ryan Aggiss, Severine Logan, and Associated Judges, Anthony Fikkers, Brendan Hawker, Camille Bru, Jarrad Olsen, Mark Baily, Phil Hutchison Continuing last year’s inaugural Associate Judge exchange between the Margaret River Wine Association and Wine Yarra Valley, this year Yarra Valley’s Anthony Fikkers from Joval and Brendan Hawker of Yering Station and Yarrabank were selected to join the Margaret River Associate Judges.   Photo/Video by Ovis Creative

As our Wine Australia #NextCropMargaretRiver are currently preparing for Session 3 this Friday, it is great throwback and read what happened at Session 2. To learn more about the program and what the cohort got up to, check out the post below. Thanks to Eloise Jarvis, Natasha Teakle, Luke Smith Breathwork, Chris Baddock, David Leevers and Jon Berry for putting together another great day. Thanks Ulrika Larsson, Kate Nickels and James Revie for sharing your journey with us.

Our inaugural Wine Australia #nextcropmargaretriver cohort kicked off their first Session in Margaret River's mid-winter. We tasked a group of three to share their impressions of the first session and diving right in! To learn more about what they got up to, check out the group's post below. Thanks to Eloise Jarvis, Natasha Teakle, Georgina Beniston, Myles Pollard, Surfpoint Resort at Prevelly and the Margaret River Adventure Company for making the it a great start! Thanks to Andrew Bretherton, Cyndal Petty and Dave Taggett for sharing your journey with us.