2012 Cellar Door Wine Festival

South Australia’s wine industry will once again come together under one roof for the second Cellar Door Wine Festival - Adelaide in February. The Cellar Door Wine Festival gives wine enthusiasts the opportunity to explore 12 iconic wine regions and enjoy tastings from more than 150 wineries.

SA Wine Festival Masterclass

The 3-day festival (February 24-26 2012) features a series of Master Classes including Tastes of the Barossa, Wine and Chocolate Tasting, and a Spiegelau Beer Glass Tasting.

There will also be a regional Farmers Market where visitors can sample and purchase regional delights from boutique producers, and beer fans can sample brews from micro breweries through to iconic SA brewer Coopers Brewery.

“The Cellar Door Wine Festival is a great model to promote South Australian wines to a local consumer audience right in the heart of Adelaide,” Wine Australia’s Domestic Market Development Officer, Chad Elson said.  “An exciting component of the festival is the mix of smaller wine producers alongside famous and well known brands, as well as the range of educational and entertaining master classes on offer,” Mr Elson said.

Cellar Door Wine Festival entry ticket includes unlimited tastings and your very own Riedel wine glass.  For more information on the Cellar Door Wine Festival please visit http://www.cellardoorfestival.com/

Clare Valley Wine Show 2011

The results of the Clare Valley Wine Show are out. Some of our favourite producers which we visit on our private tours are big winners.  Knappstein Wines collected the trophy for Best Wine of Show and Crabtree Watervale Wines who won Best Small Producer. Jim Barry Wines who was named Best Exhibitor of Show. 

This year, 45 exhibitors submitted 352 wines across 22 classes. In total, there were 224 medals awarded, including 36 gold and 44 silver medals.

Glenn James, this year’s Chair of Judges, said; “I wondered how the current vintage whites where going to look but it was a great satisfaction that amongst the 2011 Riesling there were still classic Clare Rieslings worthy of gold and trophy awards. We tasted a decade of Riesling in the older Riesling class and it was just stunning the depth and quality of the wines was just astounding.”

2011 Clare Valley Regional Wine Show Trophies

• Best Sweet Wine:  Kilikanoon Wines, Mort's Cut Late Harvest Riesling 2009
• Best Fortified Wine:  Crabtree Watervale Wines, Liquor Muscat 15 yrs
• Best Exhibition Section Dry Riesling, 2010 Vintage:  Tim McNeil Wines, Watervale Riesling 2010
• Best Exhibition Section Dry Riesling, 2009 Vintage and older:  Knappstein Wines, Single Vineyard Ackland Watervale Riesling 2005
• Best Vintage Section Shiraz:  Kirrihill Wines Pty Ltd, Clare Valley Shiraz 2010
• Best Vintage Section Cabernet Sauvignon:  Knappstein Wines, Enterprise Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
• Best Vintage Section Dry Red:  Jim Barry Wines, Three Little Pigs 2010
• Best Dry Red from Exhibition Sections:  Koonowla Wines, Cabernet Sauvignon 2008
• Mick Knappstein Trophy Best Current Vintage Riesling:  Kilikanoon Wines, Mort's Block Reserve Riesling 2011
• Carl Sobels Trophy Best Vintage Section Dry Red:  Jim Barry Wines, Three Little Pigs 2010
• Best Riesling of Show:  Knappstein Wines, Single Vineyard Ackland Watervale Riesling 2005
• Best Small Producer:  Crabtree Watervale Wines
• Best Single Vineyard Wine:  Crabtree Watervale Wines, Watervale Riesling 2006
• Viticulturist Trophy:  Brendan Pudney (from Crabtree Watervale Wines)
• Best Exhibitor of Show:  Jim Barry Wines
• Best Current Release Wine of Show:  Kilikanoon Wines, Mort's Block Reserve Riesling 2011
• Jim Barry Trophy Best Wine of Show:  Knappstein Wines, Single Vineyard Ackland Watervale Riesling 2005
• Best Museum Wine of Show:  Knappstein Wines, Single Vineyard Ackland Watervale Riesling 2005