The Australian Gourmet Pages Pinot Challenge was on, once again, at Claude’s Restaurant in Sydney. The format unchanged; 12 finalists tasted blind, first without, then with food and rated separately.
The judges this year
were:
John Atwill, Peter Bourne, John Cunnington, Ken Eckersley, Mathew Evans, Peter Forestall, Stuart Halliday, Max Lake, Jon Osbeiston, Tim Pak Poy and Sharon Wild.
The finalist wines were:
|
No |
Wine |
Vintage |
|
1 |
Port Phillip Estate, Mornington Peninsula |
1999 |
|
2 |
Epis, Macedon Ranges |
2000 |
|
3 |
Ashton Hills, Adelaide Hills |
1999 |
|
4 |
Wedgetail Estate, Yarra Valley |
1999 |
|
5 |
Picardy, Pemberton |
1999 |
|
6 |
Paringa Estate, Mornington Peninsula |
1999 |
|
7 |
Panorama Vineyard, Tasmania |
2000 |
|
8 |
Diamond Valley Close Planted, Yarra Valley |
2000 |
|
9 |
Grosset, Piccadilly Valley |
2000 |
|
10 |
Providence, Miguet, Tasmania |
2000 |
|
11 |
Moss Wood, Margaret River |
1999 |
|
12 |
Bass Phillip, South Gippsland |
1999 |
New this year, after a lively discussion amongst the judges, was the way we scored the wines. So far, every wine was rated out of 100 points. As this can be misleading (scores can be manipulated by a particularly high / low score) we changed to system to rating the wines in order of preference, thereby awarding the wine with the lowest total score.
The wines rated as follows:
|
Judge |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
|
John Atwill |
4 |
9 |
4 |
6 |
7 |
2 |
7 |
2 |
11 |
1 |
12 |
10 |
|
Peter Bourne |
3 |
10 |
6 |
9 |
5 |
4 |
2 |
8 |
7 |
1 |
12 |
11 |
|
John Cunnington |
2 |
8 |
3 |
9 |
11 |
1 |
10 |
5 |
4 |
6 |
7 |
12 |
|
Ken Eckersely |
7 |
6 |
3 |
11 |
3 |
2 |
9 |
1 |
7 |
3 |
12 |
9 |
|
Mathew Evans |
4 |
5 |
11 |
8 |
12 |
8 |
1 |
5 |
2 |
8 |
3 |
5 |
|
Peter Forestall |
3 |
10 |
9 |
5 |
11 |
1 |
4 |
8 |
7 |
2 |
12 |
2 |
|
Stuart Halliday |
3 |
6 |
5 |
7 |
8 |
4 |
11 |
9 |
8 |
2 |
12 |
1 |
|
Max Lake |
3 |
2 |
9 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
9 |
8 |
1 |
12 |
11 |
|
Jon Osbeiston |
9 |
5 |
4 |
3 |
5 |
8 |
2 |
11 |
7 |
1 |
4 |
9 |
|
Tim Pak Poy |
8 |
12 |
6 |
5 |
3 |
1 |
9 |
7 |
10 |
4 |
2 |
11 |
|
Sharon Wild |
6 |
12 |
1 |
5 |
11 |
10 |
3 |
4 |
7 |
8 |
2 |
9 |
|
Total Scores |
52 |
85 |
61 |
71 |
79 |
44 |
61 |
69 |
78 |
37 |
90 |
90 |
Winner: Wine number 10, followed by number 6 then number 1
The team at Claude’s served an incredibly fragrant Duck with Duck Press Sauce,
shaved fresh Tasmanian truffles and baby root vegetables. This was followed
by a wonderfully succulent Swiss Chard vegetable dish with fresh Truffles,
Cauliflower and Parmesan, followed by a morsel of Spiced Lamb with Angassi
Oyster, culminating in Tim Pak Poy’s interpretation of a Bouillabaisse, an
architectural and textural feast for palate, nose and eyes of Banded Mowong,
Maron and Mud Crab served in a dainty handmade cup, in itself a masterpiece.
With Food:
|
Judge |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
|
John Atwill |
9 |
11 |
3 |
6 |
6 |
5 |
8 |
2 |
10 |
1 |
12 |
3 |
|
Peter Bourne |
3 |
10 |
4 |
9 |
6 |
5 |
2 |
8 |
7 |
1 |
12 |
11 |
|
John Cunnington |
3 |
9 |
1 |
2 |
10 |
6 |
12 |
4 |
5 |
8 |
7 |
12 |
|
Ken Eckersely |
10 |
7 |
2 |
8 |
6 |
1 |
4 |
9 |
4 |
3 |
11 |
12 |
|
Mathew Evans |
11 |
4 |
5 |
10 |
12 |
6 |
2 |
6 |
3 |
1 |
8 |
9 |
|
Peter Forestall |
6 |
10 |
9 |
4 |
10 |
2 |
6 |
6 |
3 |
1 |
12 |
4 |
|
Stuart Halliday |
6 |
7 |
4 |
10 |
8 |
5 |
11 |
3 |
9 |
1 |
12 |
2 |
|
Max Lake |
4 |
2 |
11 |
5 |
4 |
2 |
12 |
10 |
5 |
1 |
11 |
6 |
|
Jon Osbeiston |
3 |
7 |
5 |
3 |
7 |
9 |
2 |
10 |
5 |
1 |
11 |
12 |
|
Tim Pak Poy |
6 |
5 |
12 |
7 |
8 |
3 |
9 |
10 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
11 |
|
Sharon Wild |
6 |
10 |
1 |
12 |
8 |
9 |
7 |
3 |
2 |
5 |
4 |
11 |
Total Scores |
67 |
82 |
57 |
76 |
85 |
53 |
75 |
71 |
54 |
25 |
104 |
93 |
Winner: Wine number 10, followed
by number 6 then number 9
Congratulations to Providence, who stole the show with their Miguet 2000 from Tasmania. Congratulations, also to the runners up, Paringa Estate, Grosset and Port Phillip Estate.
We’re looking forward to next years challenge!
Thanks to all the judges who gave freely of their time
and expertise and thanks to Tim Pak Poy and his team at Claude’s for a memorable
evening, finishing on a high with a wonderful Campari Napoleon.