Wolf Blass crowned 2021 ‘Red Winemaker of the Year’ for the 4th time at prestigious global wine competition

Jul 12, 2021

Consistently recognised as one of the most successful wineries, and a recipient of more than 10,000 medals and trophies globally, Wolf Blass has another golden win to add to its ever-growing awards cabinet with this latest accolade. This is an incredible achievement given it is the fourth time Wolf Blass has been recognised in this category following wins in 2008, 2013 and 2016.

In its 37th year, the IWC is recognised as one of the world’s finest, most meticulously judged and influential wine competitions.

In addition, the 2019 Wolf Blass Grey Label McLaren Vale Shiraz was awarded the International Shiraz Trophy – after a five-year reign held by Syrah from New Zealand and the first time in almost a decade that Australia has won back this trophy. 

Wolf Blass Chief Winemaker, Chris Hatcher, is incredibly honoured to receive this award. “Being named Red Winemaker of the Year for the fourth time is very humbling. We are very proud with the continued recognition we have received at one of the world’s most respected and prestigious wine competitions and it is a great triumph for Wolf Blass, reinforcing our reputation as one of Australia's and the world’s leading winemakers with a strong history of major global award wins.

The Wolf Blass philosophy of synergistic blending, always maintaining quality, character and consistency was embedded by our Founder, Wolfgang Blass, from the very beginning and is very much a philosophy the winemaking team upholds today. This accolade cements this; given wines across our entire range contributed to this outstanding win,” adds Hatcher.

The rigorous IWC judging process assesses every wine ‘blind’ and judges each for its faithfulness to style, region and vintage.  Each IWC medal-winning wine will be tasted on at least three separate occasions by a minimum of two panels of judges tasting together, and then tasted by two Co-Chairs to verify the panel results.  The IWC judging teams include experts and influencers from the international wine industry, commercial decision makers, buyers and MWs working in unison to find the highest quality wines each year from the 52 wine-producing countries represented in the competition.

“We treasure awards won at respected international wine competitions as they are a true, independent assessment of our wines from some of the most experienced and respected wine judges in the world,” concluded Hatcher.