#winepilot

Wines were judged blind in three rounds with the top 12 wines from the First Round moving into the Semi-Final. The top 4 wines from the Semi-Final were then judged head-to-head in a Grand Final. Other Grand Finalists included Bondar Wines Rayner Vineyard Grenache 2019 and Hentley Farm The Stray Mongrel 2019.

Eight Gold Medals, 10 Silver Medals and 24 Bronze Medals were awarded, a higher rate than usual due to all entries being handpicked by the Winepilot team. A full list of results can be found here.

The judging panel, chaired by Mike DeGaris, included a diverse range of wine professionals to provide a strong consumer focus. Included were top current and former sommeliers Matt Dunne, Melissa Moore and Simon Curkovic, retailer Jason Bower plus wine educator and corporate speaker Andrea Pritzker MW. Judges tasted a total of 70 wines over four sessions and six hours with the aim to eliminate palate fatigue and foster high quality judging.

Chairman of Judges Mike DeGaris gave the following summary of the show, “Being in the show system for quite some time we taste a range of Grenaches, but there is often not a whole lot of variability. I came into the shootout not sure where it was going to go but I was pleasantly surprised.

“There were lots of delicious wines. There were technical, structural wines. There were wines with flavour. There were some nice commercial entrants that the normal drinker could get their head around and there were the high level wines. The trophy wines nail everything.”

Winepilot Founder Angus Hughson commented, “The Grenache Shootout was about bringing together some of the best Grenache and blends in the country, with a distinct focus on consumer rather than trade tastes.

“I could not be happier with what Mike DeGaris and the judges have pulled out from the 52 wines that were hand-chosen by our team to compete in this event; from juicy, early-drinking styles to more serious and savoury wines. This is the first of many Winepilot Shootouts that focus on finding the best and most delicious wines for the Australian wine drinking consumer.”

The Winepilot Grenache Shootout 2020 was held thanks to generous sponsorship by Wine-Ark and Plumm.

Further information can be found here.

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For further information, images or interviews, please contact:

David Cumming at Define Wine Marketing & Communications:     0414 736 342 or [email protected] Angus Hughson, Founder & Publisher at Winepilot.com : 0431 146 353 or [email protected]

“We are excited to launch Winepilot using such a range of contributors with great depth of knowledge which we are now delivering to a wide range of wine drinkers through a consumer-friendly online platform.”

Traditionally newspaper columns were vital for connecting wineries to a large audience and telling their stories. However, as many of these columns have disappeared, there are fewer opportunities for wineries to be showcased to a broad spectrum of wine consumers.

Winepilot fills this void. As a free digital drinks guide for consumers Winepilot offers wineries much needed exposure using modern digital tools and social media to create and distribute engaging drinks content, with a combination of stories and reviews.

“We want to be the Broadsheet for drinks - a digital magazine that gently guides consumers to a world of better wine, craft beer and spirits, while avoiding trade jargon to resonate with a broad audience by using everyday language,” explained Hughson.

“We feature the best wines and create content of interest to the wider drinking community without a sole focus on super premium wines that are only relevant to a small proportion of the general public. We’ll feature wines from ALDI alongside Penfolds Grange to provide recommendations for all tastes and budgets.”

Hughson says a particular focus for Winepilot is those less engaged wine consumers. “With our free, user-friendly platform, we are helping wineries to connect with consumers that have an interest in wine but are unlikely to buy a magazine or purchase an online subscription.

"Having some of the country’s most respected wine writers allows us to provide our readers with engaging and informed reviews and articles to help them navigate, explore and discover the best available wines.

“Our industry is excellent at communicating with that veneer of high interest, largely older male drinkers but we are not so good for the mainstream, who actually buy most of the wine in Australia, plus younger consumers, who are vital for our industry’s future. 25% of the Winepilot audience is under 35 illustrating that our content is resonating with younger, wine interested consumers.”

Winepilot has a number of highly experienced contributors to which it will add communicators from all parts of the trade, including winemakers and sommeliers, to regularly unearth new voices and provide a broad spread of content with wide appeal.

Winepilot is well aware that female wine consumers are also an important demographic in the industry. “We feel that there are too few regular female contributors in our major local wine publications. Winepilot is pursuing an equal gender split for its contributor base, using and uncovering new engaging female voices and opinions to better connect Australian wine brands to all their potential customers.”

While Winepilot’s focus is on drinks in our local market, the business plans to roll out Winepilot.com into international markets to make wine more accessible to a wide range of consumers and assist local brands to connect with consumers in key export markets.  

“We’d encourage wineries to get in contact if they are interested in having their wines tasted and their stories told by the Winepilot team.”

Winepilot founder, Angus Hughson

Winepilot contributors, Jeni Port and Tony Love

For further information, images or interviews, please contact:

David Cumming at Define Wine Marketing & Communications:     0414 736 342 or [email protected]