THE 2010 vintage of this wine has now been awarded more trophies than any other WA wine.
Until now, WA’s most awarded wine was the 1975 Forest Hill vineyard Mount Barker Riesling made by Dorham Mann at Sandalford.
That wine won 12 gold medals and nine trophies over a number of years – in an era of far fewer trophies available and far fewer regional shows.
The 2010 Vasse Felix Heytesbury Chardonnay has now equalled that tally of nine capital city wine show trophies. The Heytesbury Chardonnay from 2010 has also gained more trophies at regional shows.
Following extraordinary results for the earlier Heytesbury chardonnay vintages, the 2006 release, which was “polished” or finished by the then new incoming winemaker Virginia Willcock, won three gold medals and five trophies.
This was the beginning of Virginia’s and Vasse Felix’s extraordinary joint show success story with chardonnay – even by WA standards.
The 2007 vintage won five national show gold medals. The 2008 vintage – Vasse Felix’s greatest wine of any sort til then – won three trophies, including the International TRI-Nation Championship, and five gold medals.
The even better 2009 vintage gained gold medals at Melbourne and Adelaide, and at the National Show in Canberra where it also won trophies for Best Chardonnay, Best Dry White and Best Table Wine of Show.
The 2010 vintage chardonnay has won gold and three trophies including Best Dry White at Sydney in February.
It has also been awarded a gold medal and trophies for Best Chardonnay and Best Dry White at Canberra, and a gold and trophies for Best Chardonnay, Best Dry White and Best Table Wine of Show at Adelaide in 2011.
On top of these were a gold medal at the Qantas Wine Show of WA, and a gold medal and two trophies for Best Chardonnay and Best Dry White at Margaret River. The wine is available at cellar door. A little will be released in Perth on May 1.