2025 Westpac Gippsland
Wine Show
The 2025 Westpac Gippsland Wine Show attracted 114 high-calibre entries with particular strengths in Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Shiraz. There was a record haul of 55 medals, including an unprecedented 7 gold trophies in the varietal classes, with 18 gold, 18 silver and 19 bronze, awarded at the annual celebration held for 130 guests at Narkoojee Winery, Glengarry North, on Thursday, 16 October.
- Photos from the awards night below (more to come)
- Full results - click for the 2025 results booklet
Congratulations to all our winners and their teams:
Scott Guerin, of lead sponsors Westpac, presents Marcus Satchell with the 2025 Westpac Gippsland Wine Show trophy for Best Wine of Show for the 2024 Magic Dirt Pinot Noir.
Rick Lacey receives the trophy for Most Successful Exhibitor from Lauren Van Strijp, representing Bass Coast Shire Council.
Marcus Satchell and Lisa Sartori of Inverloch-based Dirty Three Wines, won the coveted Westpac Best Wine of Show, for the the Dirty Three 2024 Magic Dirt Pinot Noir, which also won Top Gold and Trophy in the Best Pinot Noir class (96 points). The trophy was presented by Westpac’s Scott Guerin.
Dirty Three Wines also took out the Best Red Wine of Provenance for the Dirty Three All The Dirts Pinot Noir 2018, 2021 and 2024, presented by Braydon Gillis of Farmer’s Daughters restaurant and the Renascence Group.
Completing the triple, Dirty Three Wines won the Best White Wine of Provenance for the Dirty Three "The Dirty Rizza" Riesling 2018, 2020, 2025, presented by Piers Parmenter of Grapeworks.
The Most Successful Exhibitor trophy was awarded to Purple Hen Winery, Phillip Island, and was presented to Rick Lacey by Lauren Van Strijp of Bass Coast Shire Council
(See more pictures below, and more to come)
RECORD SEVEN TROPHIES IN CLASSES
There was a record seven Gold trophies awarded, for a wine which won its class with Gold or Top Gold, each earning a nomination to be judged for Best Wine of Show:
Frank Butera of Bass River Winery won Best Sparkling with a Gold medal (95 points) and Trophy for the Bass River 1835 Vintage Sparkling 2021. He was presented with the trophy by Kurt Best of Phillipson’s Accounting Services.
Alistair Hicks of Blue Gables Vineyard won Best Sauvignon Blanc with a Gold medal (95 points) and Trophy for the Blue Gables 2025 Sauvignon Blanc, with the trophy presented by Simon Kelton of Monacellars.
Rick Lacey of Purple Hen Wines won Best Aromatic White with a Gold Medal (95 points) and Trophy for the Purple Hen 2025 Off-Dry Riesling. The trophy was presented by Krystal Barr of Baw Baw Shire.
Lightfoot Wines won Best Chardonnay in a hotly-contested class yielding 5 gold meals, with a Top Gold (96 points) for the Lightfoot 2024 Myrtle Point Chardonnay. The award was presented to Alastair Butt by Cr John White, Mayor of East Gippsland Shire Council.
Waratah Hills won Best Rose for the Waratah Hills 2025 Pinot Noir Rose, with the award presented by Cr John Schelling, Mayor of South Gippsland Shire Council.
The Best Pinot Noir trophy with a Top Gold (96 points) was awarded to Marcus Satchell for the Dirty Three 2024 “Magic Dirt” Pinot Noir, and was presented by Cr Scott Rossetti, Wellington Shire Council. There were five Gold medals in this class, and five Silver.
Purple Hen Wines won the Best Shiraz with a Top Gold (96 points) for the Purple Hen 2024 The Rooster Shiraz, presented with their trophy by Caroline Rossetti of Gippsland Funeral Services. There were four Gold medals in this class and one Silver.
Other varietal class winners were:
Best Cabernet Sauvignon & Blends was won by the Purple Hen 2024 Cabernet Sauvignon with a Silver award (90 points) presented by Trudi Mantell of Coast Magazine.
Best Sweet White was won by the Lightfoot Wines NV Darkfoot, with a Silver medal (93 points) and was presented by Sandrine Gimon representing Amorim Corks
Best Other Red Varieties & Blends was won by Dirty Three Wines for the Dirty Three 2024 “Aldo Sangiovese with a Top Silver award (93 points), presented by Kelly McCarthy of Destination Gippsland.
Honour for members
Wine Gippsland Vice President Marcus Satchell presented the Eckersley Award for outstanding contribution to the Gippsland wine community, to Alistair and Catherine Hicks of Blue Gables Vineyard, recognising Alistair’s leadership of Wine Gippsland which has created a strong and well-supported association.
Congratulations, Alistair and Catherine
Our Sponsors
Wine Gippsland was delighted to have Westpac return as the lead naming rights sponsor for the show and Best Wine of Show.
Guests at the awards included representatives and sponsors from Wellington Shire, East Gippsland Shire, Bass Coast Shire, South Gippsland Shire and Baw Baw Shire, along with wine industry suppliers, regional businesses and other stakeholders involved in the food and drink sector.
The Judging was held on on 5-6 October at Cape Paterson Surf Lifesaving Club. Wine Gippsland again secured an independent and highly credentialled judging panel, led by Julian Grounds (Stonier), as Chair of Judges, with Jane Faulkner (Halliday) and Rohan Smith (Medhurst) as judges.
Our sincere thanks to all our sponsors, both of the awards and auction items, for their support which allows Wine Gippsland to continue its non-profit work as a member-driven regional association, aimed at developing the quality and profile of Gippsland wines and the region, and their role in developing food+drink experiences to attract visitors to the region.
The 2025 Westpac Gippsland Wine Show awards - a taste of the celebrations.
