2014 McLaren Vale Wine Show Festival
In 2014, McLaren Vale will become the first regional Australian wine show to both introduce food into the judging process and to invite the public to be part of the experience via a series of special wine dinners.
It will also be the first show to invite Australian ‘Silver Bullets’ – a term coined by James Halliday to describe a (previously only international) guest judge of particular influence who is welcomed to join the judging discussion. Judging for the 2014 McLaren Vale show will take place across four days, chaired by Jim Chatto of McWilliams Wines. Four Silver Bullets – James Halliday, Huon Hooke, Iain Riggs and Brian Walsh – will join the panel of judges for one day each.
Four major categories, considered the pillars of McLaren Vale, have been selected for showcasing: shiraz, grenache, cabernet sauvignon and whites. Each day, judging will focus on one of these categories, with the highest scoring wines being selected for ‘call back’.
(Judging of the other trophies will also be done in these daytime sessions, scheduled across the four days.)
Each afternoon, the call back wines will be taken to one of the region’s premium restaurants where the chef will have specially designed a dish to complement the variety. All judges will finalise their scores while sampling the wines alongside this dish. Once this is complete, a sub group of judges will join public guests in the restaurant.
Each of the four dinners will be hosted by the day’s Silver Bullet who will be mic-ed up to lead the evening’s conversation.
Guests will enjoy the chef’s specially designed dish accompanied by the 2013 category winner, other previous winners and top national and international examples of the particular variety. The host Silver Bullet will talk about the category and observations of the 2014 entries generally, along with commentary on the wines being poured with the meal.
(The 2014 entries must remain blind until the wine of show is decided at the end of judging, hence winners cannot be revealed at the dinners.)
This new format will replace the show’s awards night which was not open to the general public. It allows McLaren Vale to showcase its world class produce, hospitality and culinary skills alongside its best wines.
These events will be held on October 20, 21, 22 and 23. Tickets will be $150 each and on sale in early September. Restaurants have capacity for between 60 and 80 people each.
A free public tasting of trophy and gold medal winning wines will also be held at the National Wine Centre in Adelaide’s CBD on November 14.
