More than just a wine show for over twenty years

In 1999 Stefano de Pieri and Bruce Chalmers, along with Dr. Rod Bonfiglioli, initiated the Sangiovese Awards and continued in 2000 with the Australian Italian Wine Show. Following the success of these shows, the first Australian Alternative Varieties Wine Show was held in Mildura in November 2001 and now in 2021, #covidwilling, we hope to celebrate our 20th anniversary with you, our AAVWS Family.

For twenty years the AAVWS has been more than a forum for wines that fall outside the mainstream. We continue to encourage cutting-edge judging procedures and provide a host of social and educational events that promote knowledge sharing and the ferment of ideas. We have been innovative and adventurous and over time have introduced a custom built Show software system WineShowPro, looked into sponsoring new varieties, developed an International Judge program, including tours of Victorian wineries, and instigated a Fellowship for passionate candidates to visit Mildura to experience the show and become new alternative variety ambassadors.

Reality Check
We understand that gathering restrictions, border crossings and potential lockdowns may impact on staging our gathering events, but we are forging ahead with our fingers crossed. If we sail across the finish line without any hiccoughs, rest assured we will have a comprehensive COVID-19 Risk Management Plan to ensure your safety and adherence to all mandatory and sensible safety policies and procedures. Conversely, if it comes to pass that we cannot stage the gathering events we will refund your tickets, apart from a small administration charge, but will go ahead with judging of the wines as we did against all odds in 2020.

So let's do this! Stay tuned, stay safe and stay positive.