Yarra Yering Underhill shiraz wins champion wine at the 2023 National Wine Show of Australia

The Yarra Yering 2021 Underhill shiraz was awarded the Prime Minister's trophy for champion wine of show at the National Wine Show of Australia awards ceremony on June 16. The 2018 vintage took out the top gong at the show in 2019.

Chair of judges Jim Chatto described Yarra Yering winemaker Sarah Crowe's the winning wine as a perfectly pitched rendition of a great cool-climate shiraz.

"The wine stood out for its sublime fruit purity and wonderful balance. It's a delicious wine that could come from no other place on earth," he said.

This year, Yarra Yering also won the cabernet blends trophy for its 2021 Agincourt cabernet malbec.

The winning shiraz, which won the James Halliday red wine of show trophy, narrowly edged out Deep Woods Estate's 2021 Reserve chardonnay for the top prize. The Deep Woods chardonnay won the Len Evans memorial white wine of show trophy. The Margaret River vineyard also picked up the sauvignon blanc trophy for its Deep Woods Estate 2022 sauvignon blanc.

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Other notable wins include Bream Creek Vineyard's 2019 "Old Vine" Reserve riesling, which won the riesling trophy, and Bleasdale Vineyards' 2021 Second Innings malbec, which took out the red varietal trophy. Bleasdale also won the shiraz blends trophy for its 2021 Broad-side shiraz cabernet sauvignon malbec.

Chatto said a surprise this year was the red varietal class being the second biggest of the show.

"These newer to Australia varieties are fast being embraced by the industry and consumers alike. It's a testament to their suitability to our largely hot and arid climate," he said.

"We've seen a move towards lighter, brighter and more versatile wine styles. Not lacking in structure, but focused on intensity of flavour, instead of concentration, aligning strongly with consumer preference these days. The quality of Australian wine has never been better. We are truly making wines that stand up on the world stage."

Andrew Shedden, the head of fine wine with leading drinks retailer Endeavour Group, a platinum partner of the show, said consumer demand was increasing for lighter, medium-style red wines.

"Pinot noir is driving this movement and is now comfortably our third-biggest selling red variety but there's been a strong demand for grenache, gamay, tempranillo, sangiovese, nero d'Avola and other lighter style reds," he said.

"These crunchy, accessible red wines offer a lot of versatility, they're highly palatable and really complement the huge food trend we're seeing in Australia. These styles collectively account for around 20 per cent of red wine sales and have seen more than a 60 per cent increase in sales in the past five years."

A special recognition award was made to Australia's most respected wine critic, wine writer, vigneron and senior wine competition judge James Halliday, who has been a patron of the National Wine Show for more than 40 years.

"James has been a driving force behind Australia's global recognition as a nation to be reckoned with when it comes to producing outstanding wines," said show chair Andy Gregory.

"He has served as chair of judges several times in the show's 48-year history and has been on our advisory panel since 1995.

"His stewardship has transformed the show into what is now widely recognised as the nation's most important wine awards, one of few in the world whose federated model means only wines that have already won gold or silver medals in qualifying regional and city shows make it to the judging table."