By Shiloh Thurrowgood
Yarra Valley’s very own Yarra Yering winery has been awarded the Prime Minister’s Trophy for Champion Wine Show for their 2021 Underhill Shiraz at the National Wine Show.
The National Wine Show is one of Australia’s premier wine shows and the Prime Minister’s Trophy is the highest honour awarded to any wine in the country.
Yarra Yering’s general manager Sarah Crowe is a renowned wine maker in the country who has won many prestigious awards such as winemaker of the year in 2017, adding best wine to the list for the second time since 2018.
“It’s a wonderful recognition for everyone who works here and for all the hard work that’s gone into making wine” Ms Crowe said
The weather conditions in 2021 were cooler which allowed the grapes to ripen slower, producing a “beautiful accumulation of flavour,” according to Ms Crowe.
“The 2021 vintage is a really beautiful vintage and those wines are just very complete and have this wonderful balance, but generosity to them.” Ms Crowe said
“The season was very favourable for those wines… that block gives us beautiful fruit quality and chemistry, so the sugar levels and the acid levels in that wine off that block are very well balanced.”
Ms Crowe didn’t always want to be a winemaker, often calling herself “an accidental wine maker”.
While having a background in horticulture and a degree in viticulture, it was a trip to the other side of the world that sparked Ms Crowe’s interest in creating her own grape haven.
“I saw my first vineyard when I travelled overseas and I was thinking ‘maybe I can work in a vineyard when I get home,’” she said.
Ms Crowe’s philosophy in winemaking is that wine needs to reflect the environment it’s grown in.
“We want it to represent the year but also represent our site and what we can achieve here based on the microclimate on that block,” she said.
Minister for Agriculture Murray Waltt congratulated the winery on this achievement.
“I congratulate Sarah Crowe and the Yarra Yering team on their wonderful success and all the wine makers in the National Wine Show—to make it into the national show is a great achievement in itself,” Mr Waltt said.
Ms Crowe believes having this award opens the doors to having conversations with Mr Waltt.
“In the future [we need] some assistance because there was quite a bit of damage that happened across the region in the last 12 months due to flooding, and also in export markets how trade relations are going with other countries.”
The Australian wine industry generates $45 billion to the economy each year, providing jobs for Australians in wine production and tourism regions.
“The Albanese Government is supporting Australian wine by expanding and diversifying trade markets,” Mr Waltt said.
“The Australia-UK FTA entered into force on 31 May, removing all tariffs on Australian wine and under the Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement, Australia now has greater access to the Indian market of 1.4 billion people—in one of the world’s fastest growing major economies.”
A number of other awards given to Australian winners were presented at the show. One of the most notable awards went to James Halliday, one of Australia’s leading wine experts was given recognition for his contribution to the wine industry.
