Coonawarra winery Jack Estate has been acknowledged in the 2022 KPMG Sydney Royal Wine Show.

Jack Estate was awarded a gold medal for its 2018 Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon.

Jack Estate senior winemaker Conrad Slabber said it was a “really good feeling” to win the medal and it had some build-up as the wine had also been successful at the Royal Adelaide Show, Royal Melbourne Show and Limestone Coast Wine Show.

“If you look at the reviews of this wine all the judges said everything was just well-balanced, the oak, the sugar, the tannin, the fruit, everything complemented each other,” Mr Slabber said.

“I think that’s probably what sets it apart from all the other wines, that’s why it’s done so well, just with the balance of the wine.

“That specific batch was about 20 tonnes, so it’s a small batch that I did in static fermenters, fermented for about 10 days and then I matured it in French oak barrels for about 18 months.

“A lot of small things done at the right time and the final product just come up really good.”

Mr Slabber said Jack Estate was a contract processing facility, where other wineries use the facility to make wine, and making his own label wine was just 1% of the business.

“So from that 1% to get the recognition was really, not just for me but of course we have got a pretty close group of staff, so it was really a tap on the shoulder for everyone there,” Mr Slabber said.

“It was a team effort, it was a bit of a morale booster and also for the clients that use our facility.

“It’s good for our brand and good for them as well just to show them that we have got the capabilities of producing good wines.”

Mr Slabber thanked everyone who helped him out, thanked his staff and said he could not have achieved the medal without them.