The 2025 PKF Hunter Valley Wine Show was judged at the Lone Pine Barracks at the Singleton Army Base from Monday, 11th to Wednesday, 13th August, with the trophy winners’ luncheon celebrated today at Oaks Cypress Lakes Resort, with Johanna Griggs AM as Master of Ceremonies.
The 53rd Hunter Valley Wine Show attracted 68 exhibitors, with 679 entries, a strong number of entries reflecting the depth of the current and aged wines in the Hunter Valley. Chaired by Toni Paterson, Master of Wine, this year’s show included an outstanding judging panel of experts from across Australia assessing close to 4000 bottles of Hunter Valley wine and awarding 80 Gold medals.
Dr Edward Ragg MW, as International Judge, brought extensive global experience. Based in Beijing, he co-founded Dragon Phoenix Wine Consulting with his wife, fellow Master of Wine Fongyee Walker MW, and is one of mainland China’s most experienced WSET Diploma tutors. A Robert Mondavi Award and Quinta do Noval Award winner, Edward has judged at leading shows in Australia and the Decanter World Wine Awards. He is also a respected wine writer and educator, making him a highly respected voice in the global wine community.
In Toni’s first year as Chair of the Hunter Valley Wine Show, she commented ‘Across all classes, there is great diversity in the Hunter Valley beyond with great vineyards and winemaking talent. Wines that have integrity, personality, harmony and length are the hallmarks of good wines, and many wines in this region have these hallmarks. There is an enormous number of quality wines, and the Hunter Valley should be incredibly proud of that. We saw beauty in the wines everywhere we looked’.
The Petrie-Drinan Trophy for Best White Wine of Show was awarded to Tinklers Wines for their 2017 Reserve Semillon, which also won the Drayton Family Trophy for Best Semillon of Show as well as the Kaloudah Trophy for Best Table Wine from a Small Producer. The Best Current Semillon was awarded to Brokenwood for their 2025 Oakey Creek Vineyard #2 Semillon and Best One-Year-Old Semillon to Bimbadgen for its 2024 Palmers Lane Single Vineyard Semillon.
Commenting on the 2024 and 2025 Semillon classes, Toni said ‘The 2025 Semillon Class was incredibly strong, and the strength of the vintage was on display. The Hunter Valley produces a range of relevant and contrasting styles of Semillon, which show how the region has matured and that winemakers are very comfortable working with the style their vineyard produces naturally.
The 2024 Semillon class was a surprise. I was thrilled with the quality given the year had its challenges, which just shows, despite the vintage, there is always the potential for some fantastic wines. Edward added ‘The 2025 vintage allowed the winemakers to express the best of what they can do’.
The Len Evans Trophy for Best Single Vineyard White was awarded to Colvin Wines for their 2013 Semillon. The Tyrrell Family Trophy for Best Museum White Wine was awarded to Tyrrell’s for their 2006 Vat 1 Semillon. The judges noted that ‘One of the highlights of the show are the older Semillons. These classes were simply magnificent’.
Audrey Wilkinson were awarded the Iain Riggs Wine of Provenance Trophy for their 2017, 2014 and 2006 The Ridge Semillon. “The Provenance class was a highlight and to see the strength in the span of vintages was exciting. The class showed that Hunter Valley wines can be beautiful when they are young, in their mid-years and when they are older – and not all regions can do that’, commented Toni.
The Doug Seabrook Memorial Trophy for Best Red Wine of Show was awarded to Sweetwater Wines for their 2023 Shiraz, which also received the Len Evans Trophy for Best Single Vineyard Red and the Hector Tulloch Memorial Trophy for Best Shiraz. The De Iuliis Wines 2014 Talga Road Shiraz was awarded the John Lewis Trophy for Best Museum Red. Best One-Year-Old and Three-Year-Old Shiraz was awarded to Thomas Wines for their 2024 Sweetwater Ridge Shiraz and 2021 Kiss Shiraz.
Reflecting on the red wines on show, Edward remarked, “Hunter Valley Shiraz is truly a unique style with its range of darker fruits, spice and black pepper – they are predominantly medium bodied with a restrained use of new oak and lower alcohols. What excites me most is that winemakers want to express different styles, characteristic of their specific sites. The 2023 vintage is clearly very strong, but the experienced winemakers crafted some very compelling wines in the more challenging 2024 vintage too’.
Toni added: ‘The 2023 Shiraz was a highlight. These are a modern style of Shiraz that is very relevant for today’s market with fragrance, energy and some lovely intensity. It was an absolute treat to judge and there were some stunning wines in the mix’.
The 2025 Hunter Valley Winemaker of the year, Liz Silkman, of First Creek Wines and Silkman Wines, cemented her reputation as ‘Chardonnay Queen’ winning the George Wyndham Memorial Trophy for the Silkman Wines 2024 SILK Chardonnay and their 2023 Reserve Chardonnay taking the Murray Tyrrell Trophy for Best Chardonnay and Henry John Lindeman Memorial Trophy for the Best Two–Year-Old and Older Chardonnay. Toni commented that ‘Hunter Valley chardonnay is amongst the best in the country and people are really experimenting with their winemaking giving us a lot of different styles’.
Commenting on the breadth of quality on show, Edward commented that ‘What was notable was the alternate varieties for which the Hunter Valley is not necessarily renown, but the development of these varieties showed, with winemakers making fantastic wines which speaks to the pedigree of their skills’. Trophies were awarded to Pepper Tree Wines for Best Verdelho for their 25 Limited Release “Home Block” Verdelho, to First Creek Wines for Best Other White Varietal for their 2025 Limited Release Vermentino, to Mercer Wines for Best Other Red Varietal for their 2024 Limited Release Shiraz Pinot Noir and to Glandore Wines for Best Sparkling for their 2022 Chloe Blanc de Blancs Chardonnay, winning the Ed Jouault Memorial Trophy – the awarding of this trophy for only the second time in 32 years and the first time since 1999.
Gunpowder Wines was awarded the Lone Pine Barracks Officers Mess Silver Bullet for their 2024 Fiano.
