Geelong celebrates the best wines in the region this month with the 26th annual Geelong Wine Show.
The event, which began on 11 November and culminates on 29 November at the Geelong Wine Show Awards night, is a showcase of the quality of local wines.
The show provides winegrowers with an opportunity for learning and development via the formalised judging process and through general conversation.
Oakdene Wines general manager and Geelong Wine Show chair Steven Paul said the awards night in particular was a unifying event for the local industry.
“Whether they grow the fruit, make the wine, sell the wine, whether they work in cellar doors, offices or the wineries, it’s the one opportunity when we bring everyone together,” he said.
“Our industry is quite unique, because everyone is actually very open, very close and very loyal to each other. We celebrate each other’s wins and feel the losses together.
“And if something presented to the show does really well, that producer always shares their information on what the new variety is…how they’ve made it. So that’s a highlight for me.”
Judging for the various classes was completed last week, but the results are tightly under wraps until the awards night.
Mr Paul said this year had produced a “really nice spread of results”.
“The gold medals are spread very evenly across a large number of producers, which is really exciting,” he said.
“You have some years where a small number of producers are rewarded more heavily than others, but that’s not the case this year. So there’s certainly a very even playing field, with consistency across the growers.”
Visit geelongwineshow.com.au for tickets and more information on the Geelong Wine Show Awards Dinner.
