Australian winery Wolf Blass named Red Winemaker of the Year

It’s a triple treat for Wolf Blass, being awarded this accolade for the third time following wins in 2008 and 2013.In its 33rd year, the International Wine Challenge (IWC) is recognised as one of the world’s finest, most meticulously judged and influential wine competitions.

Wolf Blass came out on top ahead of thousands of entries from all around the world, demonstrating their strength and consistency of winemaking across wine styles.

Wolf Blass Chief Winemaker, Chris Hatcher, is humbled to receive this award for the third time on behalf of the winery.

“Being named Red Winemaker of the Year for the third time, is humbling.  It is a great triumph for Wolf Blass, reinforcing our reputation as one of Australia’s truly iconic winemakers with a strong history of major global award wins.

“Wolf Blass is renowned for making wines of ‘Quality, Character and Consistency’ and this accolade cements this; given wines across our entire range contributed to this outstanding win.”

Wine Australia CEO, Andreas Clark said Wolf Blass’s win reflects the high regard that the international wine community has for Australian fine wine.

“I offer my congratulations to Chris, Steven and the entire Wolf Blass team on this exceptional win, made even more impressive by the fact that it’s the third time Wolf Blass has earned the title.

“In this year’s International Wine Challenge, Australian wine took home 815 medals, a testament to the high quality of Australian wine and the talent of our grapegrowers and winemakers. The world is taking notice of Australia and appreciates the great diversity of our wines and regions.”

The IWC assesses every wine blind and judges each for its faithfulness to style, region and vintage. Throughout the rigorous judging processes, each medal-winning wine is tasted on three separate occasions by at least 10 different judges and awards include medals (Trophy, Gold, Silver, Bronze) and Commended and Great Value awards.