Capturing the Wine Zeitgeist

“This radical-to-some-but-commonsense-to-others approach fits perfectly with the zeitgeist of the modern Australian wine industry, and encapsulates the free-thinking and creative spirit that is imbuing vignerons across the state of South Australia right now.”

16 June 2016 by Banjo Harris Plane

Celebrating the 10th anniversary of anything is a big deal. We are so incredibly proud to announce that 2016 will be the 10th time that The Adelaide Review has held Hot 100 Wines. A highlight for wine professionals on the wine show circuit, we bring together a plethora of talent from the wine and restaurant industry from around Australia. Their mission: shine a spotlight on the cultural diversity and wealth of gastronomic culture, endemic across the state, through the lens of wines of drinkability, authenticity and soul. The show, dare we say, enriches the vinous landscape of the state by exposing its existing charms to those who work amongst it as well as those from interstate. It is a celebration of the state, viewed through the expression of wines from across its length and breadth. Wines that show the diversity of the state, its past, its present and a glimpse, perhaps, at its future. Hot-100-Wines-Season-Launch-Party-Adelaide-Review-bendigo-bank-south-australian-wine-competition-judging Run unlike any other wine show in this country, and perhaps the world; wines are assessed not in groupings according to their variety; but rather in terms of style – the weight, texture and impact of the wine are the common factors across the classes. We believe this pushes winemakers to consider the place of their wines in a broad spectrum, as well as looking into why their wines taste the way they do – not simply due to their varietal composition! The radical-to-some-but-commonsense-to-others approach fits perfectly with the zeitgeist of the modern Australian wine industry, and encapsulates the free-thinking and creative spirit that is imbuing vignerons across the state of South Australia right now. We will undertake a week of wine tasting surrounded by food and music – the natural habitat for wine. Without these, wine loses some of its shine as a cultural marker and fades to just another beverage. We do not believe that for a second, and the proud vinous history of South Australia proves us, at least to some extent, correct. Hot-100-Wines-Season-Launch-Party-Adelaide-Review-bendigo-bank-south-australian-wine-competition-judging This all sounds like we’re getting rather pleased with ourselves, and it would be a lie to deny that, but of course a lot of this has happened before, and is now hopefully becoming more normal. We’re hoping to push the ideals of the show further this year, taking some of the ideas to Singapore in a form that will inspire and hopefully educate. We’re adding events to the Hot 100 calendar, and making it more accessible by hosting a mini-festival at the end of the year that will be open to consumers and hosted by the winemakers themselves. This is the end goal – a wine show that does the vignerons proud and actually educates the public. We’re proud of this state and it’s incredibly talented wine community, and want to celebrate them and show the world what it is capable of in years to come. Banjo Harris Plane is Chief Judge of Hot 100 Wines SA @banjohp