Six SA Winemakers Announced as Young Gun of Wine Finalists

The selection is a broad cross-section of the South Australian wine industry at present, with two wineries from the Adelaide Hills represented, and one each from Clare Valley, Limestone Coast, McLaren Vale and Eden Valley.

John Hughes of Rieslingfreak, Michael Downer of Murdoch Hill, Anna Hooper of Cape Jaffa, Charlotte Hardy of Charlotte Dalton Wines, Rob Mack of Aphelion Wine Co and Vanessa Altman from Switch Organic Wine are the South Australian finalists.

The Young Gun of Wine competition is this year lauding similar diversity across the national field, with a broad selection of emerging varietals, including Gruner Veltliner and Sagrantino, production styles such as biodynamic and natural processes, and even more experimental wines, such as a Rielsing infused with native Australian Botanicals.

Four female winemakers have also made it into the final 12, with three of them coming from South Australia.

This week’s announcement follows a previous announcement of Young Gun’s top 50 young winemakers from across the country. The 2017 Young Gun of Wine will be crowned along with various other prize winners on June 20.

Full list of finalists:

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

John Hughes from Rieslingfreak, Clare Valley
Michael Downer from Murdoch Hill, Adelaide Hills
Anna Hooper from Cape Jaffa, Limestone Coast
Charlotte Hardy from Charlotte Dalton Wines, Adelaide Hills
Rob Mack from Aphelion Wine Co., McLaren Vale
Vanessa Altmann from Switch Organic Wine, Eden Valley

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Yoko & Andries Mostert from Brave New Wine, Great Southern
Remi Guise from tripe.iscariot, Margaret River

TASMANIA

Peter Dredge from Meadowbank, Tasmania
Ricky Evans from Two Tonne Tasmania, Tasmania

VICTORIA

Stuart Proud from Proud Primary Produce, Yarra Valley

NEW SOUTH WALES/AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY

Chris Carpenter from Lark Hill Biodynamic Wines, Canberra District

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