Conditions
1. EXCLUSIONS: Wines or blends made primarily from the varieties muscat gordo, white & brown frontignac (and their synonyms), pinot gris/grigio, prosecco, chardonnay, semillon, sauvignon blanc, cabernet sauvignon, pinot noir, merlot, shiraz, syrah, chenin blanc, riesling, colombard, grenache and verdelho are NOT eligible. However, the above varieties might be a minor (totalling less than 15%) component in a blended wine.
PLEASE NOTE: The entry system will deem your entry ineligible if your wine is less than 85% of an alternative variety/varieties.
2. Should a significant number of wines made from the same grape variety be received in any of the classes noted as other varieties or blends, the committee reserves the right to separate these wines into a new varietal class providing the stated variety is at 85% or more.
3. To be eligible for entry, a minimum of 25 dozen must have been produced.
4. Wines must be commercially available at time of entering.
5. All entries must be finished, bottled and labelled wines and from a commercial bottling run at the time of entry.
6. All wines in each class must be 100% grown and produced in Australia.
7. Wines entered into varietal classes must comprise a minimum 85% of the stated grape variety.
8. Wines entered into blended classes must comprise a minimum 85% of an alternative grape variety/varieties.
9. All wines must have been manufactured according to the FSANZ Food Standards Code or equivalent, in operation at the time they were made, and comply with the Wine Australia Label Integrity Program (LIP) regulations.
10. A person entering a wine must have the authority of the winemaker or company involved in the production of the wine. Confirmation of this may be requested if the person entering the wine is not the winemaker or a principal, executive or employee of the company that produced the wine.
11. The same wine must NOT be entered in more than one class.
12. To qualify for a trophy, the wine must be awarded a gold medal or top gold in its class.
13. Each year the committee chooses a selection of wines from those awarded gold medals plus the trophy wines to showcase at the following year’s Awards Long Lunch. If selected, we will inform you as soon as possible and we kindly ask that you send 15 bottles to the AAVWS.
14. All entries are final and refunds will not be issued for withdrawn entries or entries that do not arrive on time.
15. An entry fee of $90 per entry must be paid at the time of finalisation of the online entry form.
16. Four bottles of each entry will be required for submission to ensure enough wine if your entry gets through to trophy judging and for the Exhibitor Tasting. Left over wines are given to sponsors, stewards and the team in thanks for their contribution and any remaining wines are donated to wine education institutions.
17. Soon after the entry closing date entry delivery instructions and entry ID bottle labels and an address label will be made downloadable for sending the four samples per entry to our depot by late October 2022.
18. Please endeavor to pack your wine samples in sustainable, recyclable packaging.
19. The tracking and arrival of wine show samples is the absolute responsibility of the entrant and no entry fees will be refunded for wines that do not arrive in time for the Show judging and any return of the samples will be paid for by the entrant.
20. The producer/winemaker of the Best Wine of the Show may be invited to sit on the AAVWS committee as an honorary member for 12 months.
What is an Alternative Variety?
The answer seems obvious. We seem to know what an Australian grown alternative variety is simply by what it is not: common and widely available. So we’ve come to recognise the phrase ‘alternative variety’ as the opposite of mainstream and extensively planted.
Certainly an alternative variety is often rare because it has been introduced recently into the country such as assyrtiko or falanghina therefore plantings are minuscule or negligible such as teroldego. However the definition also applies to a grape that might have a long Australian heritage and history but perhaps the style is no longer popular such as palomino once a staple in fortifieds that we now label as apera or the wine is not widely produced, such as durif or marsanne.
The Australian Alternative Variety Wine Show does not want to be prescriptive with its definition especially in regards to specific hectares under vine except to highlight some obvious differences. For example, mainstream and extensively planted clearly means shiraz, cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay, sauvignon blanc and latterly, pinot gris/grigio.
It’s worth noting that in time, Australian wines once deemed alternative can become popular especially if the number of hectares under vine increases dramatically. If and when they become mainstream, they are graduated and are no longer included in the show.
The committee of the Australian Alternative Varieties Wine Show carefully determines which varieties should be graduated through robust discussion and analysis around the following points:
− Hectares under vine
− Wine style maturity
− Retail shelf space and wine list representation
− Consumer awareness
Pinot Gris/Grigio and more recently Prosecco are two graduates of the AAVWS and the committee couldn’t be more proud of the important roles they now play in the Australian wine scene.
