From left: Yering Station winemaker Willy Lunn and owner/director Matthew Rathbone are congratulated by show president Bob Higgs.By Kath Gannaway
YERING Station was the toast of the 2008 Lilydale Agricultural and Horticultural Society Wine Show last week.
The show attracted entries from wineries around the Yarra Valley with judging taking place at Swinburne University in Lilydale on Thursday.
Yering Station won Champion Wine of Show, best chardonnay, best cabernet sauvignon, best white wine, best red wine and, not surprisingly, most successful exhibitor.
An industry celebration was held at Train Trak Winery in Yarra Glen where presentations were made to the winning wineries.
Yering Station winemaker Willy Lunn said while Yering Station had won awards around the world, winning among peer winemakers was particularly rewarding.
“We are firmly entrenched here so it’s a great thing to win amongst your peers,” he said.
“The quality of wine in the Yarra Valley is extremely high so to be judged against such a high level of quality is pretty amazing.”
Mr Lunn said that although the 2007/08 season had seen a difficult harvest it delivered some excellent wine.
“There were some great gold medals handed out; it’s a high-quality turnout and a high-quality show.” The winning wines will be part of a display at the Yarra Ranges Regional Showcase at Lilydale Show on the weekend of 15 and 16 November.
The Showcase is a new feature of the show that will feature regional businesses operating in the food, wine, agribusiness, accommodation and tourism sectors of the Shire of Yarra Ranges.
