Judging at the Riedal Mamba Awards, by Alex Harper

Accurately and fairly judging 100 wines in 2 hours (just over a wine a minute) is no mean feat, but then, I am not one to be daunted by such a challenge. I eased myself into the correct mind frame by tasting through the 13 aged Riesling, Oz v old world. The show stoppers from Oz were, for me, Alkoomi Riesling from Frankland River 2003; a cool, lemon crisp wine with fine boned chalky minerality and exhilarating freshness and length, and at the other end of the style spectrum, the Peter Lehmann Special Reserve Riesling 02; a richly elegant wine with intense spiced lime marmalade depths and delicious length. From the old world it was Monsieur Trimbach who shone through with his Cuvee Fredrich Emile 1996 which assailed the senses with a complex wave of honeyed ginger, truffle, rich mushroom depths and amazingly fresh acidity. The legendary Clos St Hune 1993 did not disappoint either. Despite her age she was amazingly vibrant with a beautiful creamy lemon cloak swathing an amazing inner strength of mineral depth and power. And like the Duracell bunny she went on and on.


Suitably primed, I rolled up my sleeves, sharpened my pencil and plunged into the formidable array of Australian wines in front of me. The two flights were comprised of approx 50 chardonnay and 50 Shiraz and Shiraz blends from the length and breadth of Australia. There were exciting new boutique producers ranging their wines against household names and industry icons. There were wines that elicited grunts of pleasure and those that prompted groans of disappointment. What was wonderful to see however, was the range of styles on show; there was nothing formulaic or repetitive about these wines. Rather there was talent, passion and expression; both of the soil and climate, but also self expression of the winemaker.

It was exciting to watch how varied opinion was (the public came and tasted once the judges had made a start) Listening to the debates raging across the room of one wines merit’s over another, it drove home the importance of offering variety, and just such a forum for exploring the styles available. There were a handful of wines that I felt were reductive to a fault, but those same wines were enjoyed by other tasters and as the most important aspect of any wine is enjoyment then who am I to condemn it? Both whites and reds shone in their diversity from pure, poised and perfumed, to richly textured, oak spiced wines and each found a champion among the tasters.

My winning whites and reds from the line up were:

Chardonnays 
1) Ocean Eight Verve 2011, Mornington Peninsular
2) Philip Shaw 2011, Orange
3) Paringa Estate 2009, Mornington Peninsular
4) Harewood Estate Reserve 2012, Western Australia
5) Ferngrove Diamond Chardonnay 2009, Western Australia


Reds 1) Henschke Keyneton Euphonium Sh/Cab/Mer/Cab Franc 2009, Barossa
2) Paringa Estate Shiraz 2009, Mornington Peninsular
3) De Bortoli Syrah 2010, Yarra
4) Jamsheed Garden Gully 2011, Victoria
5) Yalumba FDR1a Shiraz, Eden 

Written by Alex Harper, London Trade Sales