Winestate Magazine today announced that our 919 Pale Dry Apera has won the Fortified Wine of the Year, and our 919 Classic Muscat is a finalist in the Top 5. Eric Semmler has been nominated for Australian Winemaker of the Year. 

“It’s pretty exciting to win this prestigious award two years in a row,” said Mr Semmler. “It’s been nice to end the year on a high, especially given the challenges that the Riverland wine industry is facing at the moment… a real boost.”

919 Wines makes a range of specialist wine from Mediterranean varieties from its vineyards in Glossop and Loxton.

“It’s a bit of a challenge at the moment managing vineyards on both sides of the river, but this is a temporary situation. The disease pressure is easing as the season progresses, and we think vintage will be a couple of weeks later than it has been recently. We’re looking forward to refined fruit flavours due to the cooler season, which should give great body and texture in the resulting wines. “

Winestate Magazine evaluates 10-12,000 wines from Australia and New Zealand each year in its competition, one of the biggest in the Southern Hemisphere. Winning wines are assessed on at least three separate occasions during the year by different judges, and the Winemaker of the Year is selected as a result of the overall performance of the winery.