Beresford Wines chief winemaker Chris Dix was caught off guard when he heard their Limited Release Shiraz 2015 had won the London Wine Competition’s Best Wine in Show by Country, Best Wine in Show by Varietal and the Grand Gold.

Dix, who is in the middle of this year’s harvest and vintage period, said the news “came out of nowhere”.

“It’s a great award for the team for a wine we made quite a while ago,” he said.

Beresford’s Limited Release Shiraz is produced from grapes grown in the McLaren Vale region and capitalises on the region’s geological diversity and unforgiving soil profiles.

“Some of those wines, such as the Limited Release Shiraz 2015, really draw on our knowledge of the subregions, the good soils and [our ability to] zero in on some good blocks,” he said.

“The Limited Release is from a subregion that was regarded as the worst barley paddock in Willunga.

“It wasn’t very good for growing crops, but it is great for Shiraz, which can be a little bit vigorous. In tough soil, it tones down the big growth and gives us really good flavours and intensity.”

The London Wine Competition features a panel of highly regarded professionals in the hospitality sector and is known for selecting judges who are not only experts in wine tasting but also have direct responsibility for wine buying.

The judges noted “the wine shows elegant Shiraz character on the nose. Nice balance and good concentration. Intensity and complexity are present resulting in a great aftertaste. With full maturity & great style”.

On the same day the London news came through, the Beresford winemaking team learned their Classic Shiraz 2019 had won at the 7^th edition of the Frankfurt International Trophy, taking home the coveted Best Wine from Australia for the second year in a row and the Grand Gold.

Beresford Wines also won various gold awards for other varietals and were awarded Producer of the Year.

The Frankfurt competition saw judging of more than 4100 wines and spirits from 48 countries by 500 professional and amateur tasters from around the world.

The Beresford Tasting Pavilion at McLaren Vale is open 7 days, 10am–5pm

Describing McLaren Vale as “a bit of a sleeper for a long time”, Dix said in the past twenty years, Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon had become two of the region’s most highly regarded varietals.

He said the winery’s wins reflected the consistent quality of the wine, but that the winemaking team were not going to rest on their laurels.

“Hopefully we’ve improved since [2015 and 2019], so some better wine is coming,” he laughed.

Only eight barrels of the Limited Release Shiraz 2015 – equating to a little over 2000 bottles – were produced.

In celebration of the wins, Beresford Wines has included both of the awarded wines in a new limited release Award Tasting Flight at their Tasting Pavilion in McLaren Vale.