After two days of judging hundreds of wines from around the world, the London Wine Competition has revealed its “Best Wine of the Year” – Arcadian Shiraz from Idyll Wine Co. in Australia.This wine was a huge hit with London judges, who gave it among the highest marks possible for quality, value and packaging, the three judging criteria used to rank and evaluate the wines in the competition.

The “Best Wine of the Year” win by Idyll Wine Co. could hint at a new resurgence of affordable, easy-to-drink Australian wines in the global wine marketplace, with a total of 5 Australian wines picking up Gold medals at the 2018 London Wine Competition.

Those five Gold medals were more than any other country, with Italy coming in second with four Gold medals. The four other Australian wines that won Gold medals in competition include Old Vine Shiraz from Cape Barren Wines; RedHeads Whip-Hand from Direct Wines Production; Blue Pyrenees Section One Shiraz from Blue Pyrenees Estate; and Shaw Vineyard Estate 2015 Shiraz from Shaw Vineyard Estate.

Arcadian Shiraz is made in Geelong by winemaker Toby Wanklyn, using grapes sourced from the Murray Darling region of Northern Victoria. It has a dry to medium-bodied characteristic with a black cherry and plum bouquet and a blend of American and French Oak.

Andrew Byers, Idyll Wine Co.’s Executive Director said, “We’re delighted to see Arcadian Shiraz – a wine that sells for $10 - take out the top prize in London! It’s a top quality, yet an uncomplicated red wine that is easy to drink and partners well with most occasions. It’s a true reflection of its varietal character.”

The Idyll Wine Co. is located in the picturesque Moorabool Valley, 15 minutes west of Geelong, Victoria. Its state of the art winemaking and bottling facility draws premium fruit from throughout South Eastern Australia, with crushing, winemaking and bottling on-site for both domestic and export markets. In 2017, Idyll Wine Co. produced 18,699,227 bottles of wine and has plans for further development to increase its capacity. While Arcadian Shiraz is an export only label, the same wine is sold under the Idyll Wine Co. brand in Australia.

The London Wine Competition was launched in late 2017 by Beverage Trade Network, which organizes wine industry events all over the world. The goal of this event was to judge wines the way consumers judge them. In contrast to other wine competitions, where winemaking ability and technical expertise sometimes receive primary consideration at the expense of drinkability, the goal of the London Wine Competition was to award and celebrate the wines that wine drinkers actually want to buy, whether at a retail wine store or ordering off the menu at a London restaurant.

Chief executive of Beverage Trade Network Sid Patel said, “At all the major competitions, wines are judged solely on the quality of what’s in the bottle. We wanted to take a different approach, by asking our judges to look at wines the way wine drinkers do, adding appearance and value for money into the mix.”

“The judges were impressed by every aspect of the Arcadian Shiraz from Idyll Wine Co,” said Patel. “The wine scored particularly high on the value criteria, which is absolutely critical for winning over new wine drinkers and convincing consumers to buy a wine from a retail store or order it off a restaurant menu.”

“We really try to deliver great value for money – and we do it consistently vintage after vintage,” says Byers of Idyll Wine Co. “Our customers’ love that our wines will suit most occasions.  We enjoy being able to create great quality wines that consistently exceed expectations, at terrific value for money. That’s what’s so great about winning the awards at the London Wine Competition – Arcadian Shiraz has been recognized as a top quality wine, which represents excellent value.” 

Based on the initial success of this year’s London Wine Competition, Beverage Trade Network plans to run the competition again in 2019. The London Wine Competition was the first of several events that Beverage Trade Network will be hosting over the next 18 months as part of a global drinks initiative to introduce wine drinkers to innovative and value-oriented wines from wine regions all over the world.