Margaret River’s Ringbolt Cabernet Sauvignon has taken out the prestigious 2019 Halliday Australian Cabernet Challenge Trophy. The world’s most widely planted vine and Australia’s third most planted variety, Cabernet Sauvignon, is one of Australian wine’s great success stories, and the proof in the award-winning varieties across the South West.
Margaret River’s Ringbolt Cabernet Sauvignon has taken out the prestigious 2019 Halliday Australian Cabernet Challenge Trophy. The world’s most widely planted vine and Australia’s third most planted variety, Cabernet Sauvignon, is one of Australian wine’s great success stories, and the proof in the award-winning varieties across the South West.
Home to the world’s oldest Cabernet Sauvignon vines, planted in 1886 in the Barossa Valley, Cabernet Sauvignon has a long and proud history in Australia.
Whilst in Margaret River last week, James Halliday recorded the results announcing the 2019 Halliday Australian Cabernet Challenge Trophy winner as the 2018 Ringbolt Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon.
Scoring 96 points and taking out the top prize from over 350 other entries from 25 regions across the country, the 2018 Ringbolt Cabernet Sauvignon was made from a selection of sites around Margaret River, in what winemaker Heather Fraser said was “near perfect Cabernet Sauvignon ripening conditions”.
Cabernet Sauvignon of all vintages are eligible and judged by region without judges knowing which region they were officiating. Wines achieving a Gold Medal score (95 points and over) were selected to determine the Best of Region wine, then each Regional Winner was judged again for the Trophy.
The Halliday Australian Cabernet Challenge was conducted under the auspices of the Margaret River Wine Association in conjunction with the Langton’s 2019 Margaret River Wine Show.
In its fourth year, the Halliday Australian Cabernet Challenge respects this history whilst celebrating the producers of Cabernet Sauvignon, who are striving to make the best possible wines that reflect a sense of place.
Whether that is the sublime subtlety from the Yarra Valley, the elegant and balanced wines from the Coonawarra terra rossa soil, the rich and decadent signature style from Margaret River or the powerful and luscious expressions from McLaren Vale, the Challenge provides an opportunity for a Cabernet Sauvignon varietal competition of great interest.
The 2019 Halliday Australian Cabernet Challenge Regional Winners are as follows:
Coonawarra Best of Region
Yalumba The Menzies Cabernet Sauvignon 2017
Great Southern Best of Region
Forest Hill Vineyard Highbury Fields Cabernet Sauvignon 2018
Margaret RiverBest of Region
Ringbolt Cabernet Sauvignon 2018
McLaren Vale Best of Region
Wirra Wirra The Angelus Cabernet Sauvignon 2016
PyreneesBest of Region
Glenlofty Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2017
Yarra Valley Best of Region
Dominique Portet Fontaine Cabernet Sauvignon 2018