A New Chapter for Hot 100 Wines

With Hot 100 entries now open, these two figures (Peter Dredge and Mark Reginato) will grow the annual event with new classes, events and judges of this zeitgeist-capturing wine show and publication that discovers South Australia’s most drinkable wines.

Here both Dredge and Reginato unveil their plans for the Hot 100, as we look to make 2017/18 the most successful season of the wine show which recently partnered with a gala dinner in London and held its first full-day event in June, called Hot 100 Harvest.

Dredging Up a New Vision

The new Hot 100 Wines Chief Judge Peter Dredge (Meadow Bank Wines and Brian Wines) tells us what’s in store for the 11th incarnation of the annual wine show and season.

It’s a pleasure to be back in my home state as chief judge for the next three seasons of Hot 100 Wines.

I’ll never forget coming to the Hot 100 for the first time and discovering the wonder of music and jamon while judging. What I remember most notably is the open discussion on what was the most delicious and drinkable red wine with power and presence, which potentially could have a crack at the top 10. The open discussion was with a group of judges that included a sake importer, a chef, a food journalist, a cheesemaker, a chocolate maker and, yes, there were some sommeliers and wine industry professionals thrown in for good measure.

This open discussion made more sense to me than debating scores out of 20 exclusively with wine industry colleagues to award ‘The (enter sponsor here) Trophy for Best Red in Class 22a, Best Bordeaux Varietal and Blend Thereof – Three Years and Older’. I mean, how does the everyday drinker decipher that honour?

The disconnect with the consumer and your average wine show on the national circuit is a problem that has been highlighted and is being remedied but many shows have a way to go before they can connect with the public as well as the Hot 100.

Take the Hot 100 Harvest party that took place in the two bottom floors of The Darling Building on June 3. It was huge, packed with not only wine enthusiasts but enthusiastic people of all ages looking for a good time. That’s something to keep in mind.

So what’s in store for this season? We will continue to have you, the reader and enthusiastic tippler, at the front of mind. We’ve streamlined and simplified the wine classes, so that it looks more like a restaurant wine list (as most consumers can identify with a wine list while most producers know where they’d like to be on a wine list). This means we’ve cut the number of classes from 13 down to eight:

• Sparkling
• Light, aromatic whites
• White wines with texture
• Rose’ and Orange (or light skin contact wines)
• Light bodied reds
• Savoury and structured reds
• Reds with power and presence
• Vermouth, Sweet and Fortified styles

With the help of chief steward Mark Reginato (Reggie), we might take the Sparkling wines class out to brunch with us to judge. Enjoy with some food, open discussion and maybe a little frivolity to determine what the most delicious sparkling wines are. Reggie is a very talented man around wine and spirits, an overqualified steward with a very good team behind him.

It’s an honour to help continue the fine work of Nick Stock, James Erskine and Banjo Harris Plane as chief judge as well as the excruciatingly talented and contagiously passionate project manager Tamrah Petruzzelli.

Reggie’s Journey to Hot 100

He’s been a guest, a stall holder and a Hot 100 golden sub, now booze professional and distributor Mark Reginato is the Hot 100’s new Chief Steward, as he discusses his journey to the role and plans for 2017.

Last year I was asked to step in and help behind the Hot 100 scenes for a dear friend, the former chief steward Trevor Maskell, as he was about to take a new journey with his wife who was expecting twins prior to judging. I took on the role with gusto and made sure that I did the best I could while operating my businesses at the same time (Connect Vines and Man of Spirit). Thankfully, all things went very smoothly.

As 2016 came to a close, I was then asked to jump on board as chief steward for 2017, and I was overwhelmed to take on the role. This year I have been heavily involved in the program with Tamrah Petruzzelli (project manager) and Peter Dredge (chief judge). We have planned a very exciting program for the judging process, and hope that we can incorporate a new, creative way that can excite both the judges and stewards in the process of finding the South Australian wines that are top of their class.

Stewards that have been selected this year range from a variety of professions: sommeliers, independent retailers, restaurant/bar managers and dear friends who love wine. The reason for this is simply so we can have a diversity of behind the scenes opinions, similar to the judging process as the end goals are about discovering drinkable wines for everybody.

The 2017 stewards include Jonathan Brook, Geoffrey Hunt, Eva Yu, Gilles Fullton, Tim Owen and David Currie. We are all excited to work together and very much look forward to the results of the 2017 Hot 100 Wines.

2017 HOT 100 WINES JUDGES

LAURA CARTER
Winemaker and distiller, Ochre Nation (SA)

SAMANTHA PAYNE
Wine Program Director Nomad Restaurant/Wine Store (NSW)

EMMA FARRELLY
Beverage manager, State Buildings (WA)

JOE HOLYMAN
Farmer, Stoney Rise Wines (Tas)

NICK RYAN
Wine journalist (SA)

SHARON ROMEO
Director, Fino Seppeltsfield (SA)

BRETT SCHUTZ
Winemaker Mr. Mick and Tim Adams (SA)

KARENA ARMSTRONG
Managing director of culinary delights, The Salopian Inn (SA)

MARINA GOLDSWORTHY
Manager of marketing and communications, Langhorne Creek Wine Region (SA)

LUCY CLEMENTS
Group commercial winemaker, Accolade Wines (SA)

NIKKI FRIEDLI
Chief of Hepi Time, Africola (SA)

KRIS LLOYD
Manager and head cheesemaker, Woodside Cheese Wrights (SA)

NATALIE CLEGHORN
Winemaker, Yalumba FamilyWinemakers (SA)

EMMA SHEARER
Proprietor, The Lost Loaf (SA)

VANESSA ALTMANN
Proprietor, Switch Wine (SA)

PIP ANDERSON
Assistant Food and Beverage Manager, Museum of Old and New Art (TAS)

JOCK ZONFRILLO
Owner, Orana (SA)

MONTY KOLUDROVIC
Head Chef at Icebergs Dining Room and Bar (NSW)

PROFESSOR JOHN CARTY
Head of Anthropology Museum of South Australia (SA)

Photography: Josh Geelen