Local winery Majella Wines is celebrating after being awarded the trophy for the best Shiraz/Cabernet Blend at Australia’s premier Melbourne Royal Wine Awards.
Situated on the eastern edge of the famous Coonawarra “Terra Rossa” strip, Majella is owned and operated by brothers Brian and Anthony Lynn and the next generation, Peter, Steven, Nerys, Gerard and Daniel.
The Lynn family has been in Coonawarra for four generations and the Majella vineyards were first established in 1968.
Majella Director Brian Lynn said the family was thrilled with the win.
“We are delighted to win this prestigious award with The Musician,” he said.
“It’s our biggest selling wine and has done exceptionally well on the wine show circuit since its release back in 2005.”
Conducted by Melbourne Royal for more than 135 years, the Melbourne Royal Wine Awards give producers an opportunity to benchmark their wines against industry standards, seek advice from an independent panel of experts and promote and market award-winning products using the Melbourne Royal seal of excellence.
This year more than 3000 entries were received from winemakers across the country.
A panel of more than 35 industry experts, including winemakers, sommeliers and retailers assessed the thousands of entries over four days at Melbourne Showgrounds.
Meanwhile, the 2021 James Halliday Australian Chardonnay and Cabernet Challenge Trophy winners were announced earlier this week, with Yalumba 2019 The Menzies Cabernet Sauvignon taking out not only the top gold of the Coonawarra Wine Region, but the overall trophy to be crowned as Australia’s finest Cabernet.
Coonawarra Vignerons Events and Marketing Officer Heidi Eldridge was thrilled with the award.
“This is a fabulous achievement for Yalumba and the Coonawarra wine making team and we could not be more excited,” she said.
“This is the first time in this wine show’s six-year history, the coveted Cabernet trophy has been awarded to a region outside of Margaret River.
“A Coonawarra wine came very close to taking out the grand prize in the 2020 event, which was hosted collectively by Coonawarra, Margaret River and the Yarra Valley, so it is very satisfying to see that Coonawarra has now gained the title for Australia’s top Cabernet for 2021.”
