The 2023 36° South Coonawarra Vignerons Cup raced into action on Thursday at the Penola Racecourse.
Hundreds of people from near and far attended the much-anticipated event to enjoy a great day out with food, wine, racing and entertainment.
Coonawarra Vignerons events and marketing officer Heidi Guyett said it was a sensational day and the 2023 event was a major success.
“I think after two years of getting very close to delivering the event it was great to see a full-house marquee and just everyone getting back into it, a great atmosphere, enjoying all the offerings that we had and making a day of it,” Ms Guyett said.
There were approximately 600 people in the marquee along with many out on the ground in the general admission area.
“It was a great size event for our first return event after two years of absence of the marquee,” Ms Guyett said.
“Certainly with the capacity of the marquee we do have room for more, but we thought this year we would just stay around that mark and make sure that those who were there had 100% the best time with room for growth for later years if we want to keep building it up.”
People dressed to the nines for Fashions in the Marquee to impress judges Mount Gambier fashion stylist Kellie Nobes and A’el Estë creative director Ashlee Kalantarian.
Tilly Dohnt won best dressed female, Scott McWilliam won best dressed male, Rene Le Roux won best millinery and Emly Mae won the people’s choice award.
“I think like food and wine, fashion and racing go hand-in-hand and it just supplies another element of excitement and anticipation for people, men and women alike who love to get dressed up and really put some effort in,” Ms Guyett said.
“It was great to see all the bold and beautiful colour combinations come out.”
Greg Clayfield was inducted as a Coonawarra Vignerons Patron and Coonawarra Vignerons Association president Daniel Redman presented him with his badge.
The day started with the Sparkling Breakfast, which Ms Guyett said was always a hit with guests and people enjoyed a smorgasbord of Coonawarra wines throughout the day.
“The sparkling red is the traditional starter of the day, so there is always bit of a dash to make sure you get the finest bottle of your preference, but there was absolutely no shortage of wine on the day for people to enjoy, which is always obviously a true highlight for people in attendance,” she said.
The Super Sweep in the marquee created excitement around the 36° South Coonawarra Vignerons Cup feature race.
“There was $3000, $1000 and $450 in takings and you had to be in it to win it and certainly, at the end of the day, Wild Willy who won the cup – the person that was allocated that ticket walked away a very happy lady,” Ms Guyett said.
Ms Guyett said the committee was “absolutely thrilled” with the Imperial Auction result, where eight Coonawarra imperials and two wine barrels were auctioned off to lucky bidders.
Each imperial fetched over $1000 with a St Hugo 1991 Cabernet Sauvignon the star of the show, which was auctioned off for $5500 and fetched the highest bid of the day.
“A 1991 vintage, that is a true collector’s item and the person who got that will be absolutely thrilled,” Ms Guyett said.
“We were also pleasantly surprised that some of the smaller boutique winery imperials where they thought they might crack the $1000 maybe and they just knocked it out of the park.”
The imperials were auctioned off by auctioneer Tony Wetherall alongside emcee for the day Julian ‘Jules’ Schiller.
“He and Jules worked really well together as a team, they kept the audience engaged and had done their homework on the wines as well which certainly helped with pushing those prices up,” Ms Guyett said.
Harriet Mort from Penola’s Blomme Flora managed the decorating team and created the beautiful marquee centre-piece using local produce including greenery, lemons and herbs.
“The effort that she went to really capture the boldness and the colours and to create that feature centrepiece, which is something we have not had before central on the floor,” Ms Guyett said.
Ms Guyett said the Vignerons Cup committee was pleased with how the event pulled together.
“It always takes a lot of effort and time and involvement in the lead-up to an event like that and obviously during the day just to make sure that everything is on track,” she said.
“I think given the hurdles and challenges of the past few years it was really good to see it all come together nicely and, really, with ease on the day.
“We delivered on what we had promised our ticket holders and the results from the imperials were outstanding.
“The day itself delivered on all levels, weather, food, wine, atmosphere and of course with Shaun Brown playing in between races as well it is always good to have some tunes playing from our local musos.
“It is just such a unique event, having the sparkling breakfast at the beginning of the day and being in the tent with all the winemakers, viticulturalists and the local Coonawarra folk, it just adds an extra element for the public to get up close and personal with the characters of Coonawarra.”
People can keep their eyes out for details on the 2024 event which will be hosted on Thursday, January 11.
