Back-to-Back Riesling Trophies at the Orange Wine Show

So much excitement at the Orange Wine Show this year. Colmar Estate had a great show with one trophy, two gold medals and two silver medals. But the real story was about the vibrancy and overall strength of the Orange Wine Region.

Colmar Estate first. It was so rewarding to see our 2023 Block 6 Riesling take out the Trophy for Best Riesling. It’s a vibrant kabinett style, with brisk acidity dancing with a slight sweetness. One judge said ‘Great wine should be delicious. This wine is delicious. I’d like to drink it right now, with salami.”

This was an amazing follow-up to last year’s show where the current winner’s sister wine, the 2023 Block 5 Riesling, took out the Best Riesling Trophy. Bang! Bang! I told you 2023 was a good riesling year at Colmar Estate! A cool year on a cool site yielded a couple of sensational rieslings.

Our 2015 LD sparkling also took out a gold, the 15th in its long and illustrious career. So complex, yet so fresh.

As happy as we were, the trophy presentation at the Show was a celebration of the Orange Wine Region. No less than eight wineries took out trophies this year, indicative of the high standards being achieved across the board. 

This is not that surprising. As the potential of Orange to produce high quality wines became widely known, highly experienced and qualified winemakers were drawn to the region – three from the Hunter Valley, one from the Mornington Peninsula and one has just snuck in from Mudgee. This expertise and experience were evident at the show, one senior judge remaking at the end of the first day’s tasting that they had not found a single faulty wine. High quality winemaking all round.