Chief Minister Andrew Barr (centre) was on hand to present awards at the Canberra and Region Wine Show. Photo: Lucy Ridge.
Local winemakers are celebrating some big wins over the past couple of weeks, with top billing at the NSW Wine Awards and Canberra and Region Wine Show.
Brindabella Hills Winery took out multiple trophies for their 2025 Riesling, winning the award for Best Riesling at the NSW awards and sweeping the floor at the Canberra and Region Wine Show: Best Canberra District Riesling, Best Riesling, Best White Wine of Show and overall Best Wine of Show.
Rhiannon Hatley runs Brindabella Hills Winery with partner Michael Anderson, and said the couple were still pinching themselves after the win.
“It is such a big pat on the back. It means so much,” Rhiannon told Region.
“It’s such a hard industry, you pour 110 per cent of yourself into it, so it’s so important to have those wins. It fosters the desire to push yourself, strive even harder and push through the hard days. It’s early hours, long days and blistering hot weather we’re working in. But it’s so rewarding and refreshing to see all that hard work come to fruition.”
Rhiannon said that their success was a case of everything coming together: ideal weather conditions, pristine fruit, and winemaker Nick O’Leary’s expertise.
Rhiannon Hatley runs Brindabella Hills Winery with partner Michael Anderson. Photo: Brindabella Hills Winery/Instagram.
Another local winner is Hamish Young from Mada Wines, who took out Best Red Wine of Show at the NSW Wine Awards with his 2024 Poachers Shiraz. In addition to having his own small vineyard growing Riesling, Hamish uses Shiraz fruit from Poacher’s Pantry in Murrumbateman.
“At the end of the day, it just reaffirms that what we’re doing is right and people like the wines,” Hamish said.
Although wins are a nice cherry on top, for Hamish, it’s all about the people:
“The underlying and most important part of the business is working with good people through every part of the business. It makes it easy and seamless: right from growers like Will Bruce at Poacher’s Pantry, to working with great restaurants and bottle shops, people like Sean McConnell from Rebel Rebel or Kate and Keith Mihailakis at Ainslie Cellars.”
Hamish Young of Mada Wines says his work is all about the people. Photo: Mada/Instagram.
Rhiannon is hopeful that these wins will help to promote the local wine district to more people and showcase just how good our local wines are.
“A lot of people don’t know how beautiful this region is, so hopefully more people will want to visit the Canberra wine region, which is really important.”
Other winners at the ACT and Region Wine Show include Nick O’Leary, who took out the prize for Wine of Provenance for the 2024 White Rocks Riesling, and Best Chardonnay for his 2023 Denison Chardonnay. Linear won Best Dry White Other Varieties and/or Blends for their 2025 Grüner Veltliner, and Quarry Hill took out Best Shiraz, Best Canberra District Shiraz and Best Red Wine of Show for their 2024 vintage. Tumbarumba Winery, Courabyra Wines, won best sparkling for their 2013 805 Brut Cuvée.
See the full list of medals and trophy winners for the Canberra and Region Wine Show and the NSW Wine Awards.
