The top 50 Young Guns of Wine have been announced for 2019, with South Australia taking out 19 of the top spots.
There are 13 finalists from Victoria, eight from Western Australia, seven from New South Wales/ACT, two from Tasmania and one from Queensland.
Finalists include Liv Maiorana and Mijan Patterson from South by South West; Callie Jemmeson and Nina Stocker from Pacha Mama; Andrew Scott of La Petite Mort and Charles Sturt University for Boutique Wines by CSU.
The top 50 were decided by a judging panel consisting of Rory Kent (founder), Nick Stock (Gourmet Traveller Wine), Mike Bennie (Delicious), Pip Anderson (MONA), Josephine Perry (Dormilona), Rob Mack (Aphelion Wine Co), Penny Grant(Ghanem Group sommelier) and Leah Rinaldi (Jenny & Francois), with judges tasting 250 wines over two days.
“Each year, the Top 50 list gets harder and harder to decide, which demonstrates the increasing quality and calibre of new wine labels in Australia,” says Kent. “There’s a diversity of people, places and paths to wine, which makes the list so compelling and creatively igniting for the direction of Aussie wine.”
The final 12 will be announced in late April in Melbourne and Sydney with the winners revealed in Adelaide in June.
TOP 50 FINALISTS
NSW/ACT
Campbell Meeks from Boutique Wines by CSU, Canberra District
Chris Carpenter from Lark Hill Winery, Canberra District
Angus Vinden from Vinden Estate & The Vinden Headcase, Hunter Valley
Daniel Payne from Dirt Candy Wine, Hunter Valley
Shannon Burgess-Moore from Grandis & De Iuliis Wines, Hunter Valley
Will Rikard-Bell from Rikard Wines, Orange
Rob Paulazzo from R.Paulazzo, Riverina
QUEENSLAND
Andrew Scott from La Petite Mort, Granite Belt
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
Adam Lampit from Lambrook Wines, Adelaide Hills
James Hamilton from Golden Child Wines, Adelaide Hills
Jono Hersey from Hersey Vineyard, Adelaide Hills
Sacha La Forgia from Adelaide Hills Distillery, Adelaide Hills
Tom Northcott from Howard Vineyard, Adelaide Hills
Turon White from Turon Wines, Adelaide Hills
Michael John Corbett from Sanglier Wines, Clare Valley
Tarrant Hansen from Spider Bill Wines, Adelaide Hills
Ben Cook from Cooke Brothers Wines, Adelaide Hills
Josh Pfeiffer from Whistler, Barossa Valley
Steven Baraglia from Naked Run Wines & Place in Time, Barossa Valley / Clare Valley
Damon Koerner from Koerner Wine, Clare Valley
Daniel Redman from Redman Wines, Coonawarra
Vanessa Altmann from Switch Organic Wine, Eden Valley / McLaren Vale
Peta Baverstock from Cuvée Co. Wines, Limestone Coast
Luke Growden from Year Wines, McLaren Vale
Sam Dunlevy, Berg Herring Wines, McLaren Vale
Alice Davidson from Norfolk Rise / Aunt Alice, Robe / Mount Benson
Duncan Lloyd from Dune, McLaren Vale
TASMANIA
Greer Carland from Quiet Mutiny, Tasmania
Jonathan Hughes from Mewstone Wines, Tasmania
VICTORIA
Alister Timms from Shadowfax Winery, Macedon Ranges
Pat Underwood from Little Reddie, Heathcote
Ben Ranken from Wilimee, Macedon Ranges
Liam O’Brien and Matt Brooke from Athletes of Wine, Macedon Ranges
James Sexton from Main Ridge Estate, Mornington Peninsula
Leighton Joy from Pyren Vineyard, Pyrenees
Simon Killeen from Simao & Co Wines, Rutherglen / North East Victoria
Alastair Reed and Sam Cook from Konpira Maru, South Burnett / King Valley
Matt Froude, Municipal & Wine by Sam, Strathbogie Ranges
Callie Jemmeson and Nina Stocker from Pacha Mama, Victoria
Dave Fletcher from Fletcher Wines, Victoria
Jayden Ong from Jayden Ong/One Block, Yarra Valley
Shaun Crinion from Dappled Wines, Yarra Valley
WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Alexi Christidis from Chalari Wines, Frankland River / Perth Hills
Matt Eastwell & Danni Paviour-Smith from Freehand, Great Southern
Remi Guise from tripe.Iscariot, Margaret River
Julian Langworthy and John Fogarty from Good Tycoons, Margaret River / Frankland River
Rhys Parker and Paul Hoffman from Vallée du Venom, Margaret River / Swan Valley
Liv Maiorana and Mijan Patterson from South by South West, Margaret River
Kim Tyrer from Galafrey Wines, Mount Barker
Genevieve Mann from Corymbia, Swan Valley