Western Australia continues to dominate 2016's major national wine shows after a Margaret River winery won Australia's most sought-after wine trophy on Thursday night.
The 2014 Deep Woods reserve cabernet sauvignon won the coveted Jimmy Watson Memorial Trophy, awarded to the best young dry red (one or two years old) at the Melbourne Wine Show.
Some of Australia's most famous wines, including Penfolds Grange, have won the Jimmy Watson since it was first awarded in 1962, when the owner of one of Melbourne's most famous wine bars died suddenly and his friends established the trophy in his memory.
The Deep Woods cabernet, which also won the Max Schubert trophy for top red at the recent Adelaide Wine Show, is the fifth WA wine to win the trophy, the last being Harvey River Bridge Estate in 2010.
The winery's chairman Peter Fogarty said the win justified the decision to invest in Margaret River.
"In 2005 we purchased Deep Woods Estate in the northern end of Margaret River as I believed the region was increasingly becoming one of the greatest wine regions of the world," he said.
"We set ourselves the target of producing the very best wines across our range, but my personal goal was to produce the very best cabernet sauvignon and chardonnay of the region."
After winning the James Halliday award in 2014 for Australia's best chardonnay and now the Jimmy Watson, Mr Fogarty's dream has been realised via the Deep Woods label.
It was a night to celebrate for other Margaret River producers too, with the 2014 Snake + Herring Corduroy Chardonnay, 2016 Stella Bella Sauvignon Blanc and 2016 Flametree Pinot Rosé all winning their varietal trophies.
While producing only 5 per cent of Australia's premium wine, Margaret River is responsible for about 20 per cent of premium sales.
New data in March showed the region accounted for 66 per cent of bottled wine exports from WA and 84 per cent of premium exports, with a 23 per cent increase into the lucrative and growing Chinese market.
WA wines have dominated the national wine show circuit this year, taking out a higher percentage of the major awards at each show than any other state.
