(….strictly embargoed until 10.30pm on Friday January 17)
The Tasmanian majority Liberal Government has been the strongest backer of the state’s flourishing world class wine industry.
Tonight Tasmania’s best wines have been celebrated at the gala 2020 Tasmanian Wine Show in Launceston with Captain Spotswood Pinot Noir 2018, by Bangor in Dunalley, taking out the Champion Wine of Show.
In its 30th year, this year’s Wine Show saw 460 entries across 20 trophy categories, up on the 446 entries from 2019.
Importantly, this year the Export Wine of Show International Judge’s Trophy, supported by the Tasmanian Government, went to Bream Creek’s 2019 Sauvignon Blanc.
Bream Creek Vineyard, located in Marion Bay, is one of the state’s oldest vineyards and its owner for the past 30 years, Fred Peacock, is a pioneer of our wine industry. Bream Creek exports to China and can proudly add the Export Wine of Show trophy to its already impressive list of awards and wine show medals.
It has also been great to welcome this year’s International Guest Judge, Chuck Heyward, from the United States to Tasmania as America’s foremost expert on Australian and New Zealand wines (comments from Mr Heyward follow).
Wine continues to be an outstanding performer for our local economy, supporting 2000 local FTE equivalents and bringing in around $115 million to the local economy each year, and almost 300,000 interstate and international visitors that come to Tasmanian cellar doors each year.
The Tasmanian Government has invested $600,000 which has enabled the wine industry to undertake strategic and targeted promotion programs to grow the presence and reputation of Tasmania and its wine in key markets.
The wine industry is now well on its way to reach its targeted growth of 1.5 million cases of wine by 2020, a trebling of wine production since 2013, and is playing a pivotal role as we work towards our vision to grow the annual farm gate value of Tasmania’s agricultural sector to $10 billion by 2050.
Our state continues to be a net exporter of premium wines and we will continue to support those producers who wish to grow their export markets and we look forward to opening up and growing even more opportunities through our upcoming trade and investment mission to the United States.
Congratulations to all of our 2020 Tasmanian Wine Show trophy winners for their ongoing commitment to Tasmanian quality and helping to take our name to markets around the world.
For the full list of winners go to http://taswineshow.org/.
Comments attributable to 2020 Tasmanian Wine Show International Guest Judge, Chuck Heyward:
``It is safe to say that Tasmania has an unparalleled reputation for making exquisite sparkling wines and pinot noirs and my visits here have confirmed that and more.
There can be no doubt that the gold medal winners that were presented to me were more than worthy of this trophy.
As the international judge for this show, I felt that my responsibility was to add a wider view in selecting tonight’s winner.
Many winemaking regions succeed by specialising in one or two varietals becoming world renowned for their expertise in those wines.
Tasmania has those two wine styles but they have even more to offer than just bubbles and pinot. This diversity is something that should be celebrated.’’
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