The 2010 Vin de Champagne Award

This year Champagne aficionados around Australia can put their palates to the test by entering the 2010 Vin de Champagne Award.

Organised every year second on behalf of the Comite Champagne, the Award not only aims to celebrate and encourage the enjoyment of Champagne in Australia but seeks to find Champagne Ambassadors who will share their knowledge and appreciation of Champagne. 

“No other wine award like this exists in Australia or in any other major market for Champagne in the world. The award has run for over thirty years and has produced some of the finest Champagne palates in the world. Past winners actively promote Champagne in all walks of life ensuring that Australia remains in the top ten markets for importing Champagne,” says Elisabeth Drysdale, Director of the Champagne Bureau.

The award is open to candidates in one of three categories; Professional for people who gain income from the food & wine industry, Amateur for those experienced tasters who have a passion for Champagne and Student for 18-27 year olds who are enrolled in or have recently completed a wine, hospitality or catering course.

Entrants will be required to answer a number of essay questions on Champagne viticulture, terroir and history and are expected to have some knowledge of the administrative and marketing structure of the Champagne industry. State finalists will be flown to Sydney to undergo a final judging before a panel of judges in which they are required to show their skills in tasting a range of Champagnes selected from non-vintage, vintage, blanc de blanc and rose styles. 

The winner will be announced at an invitation only awards dinner attended by Australia’s most respected wine and food industry leaders.

Judging of the award will be conducted by Huon Hooke; author, wine-writer and former Professional Winner, Peter Bourne, wine-writer and ‘wine-man’ former Professional winner and Bernadette O’Shea former amateur winner and Champagne educator.

Winners receive a two-week educational tour to the Champagne district where they receive their medal from Comite Champagne and enjoy the legendary Champenois hospitality. In the past, winners have been overwhelmed by their visit and for many; it’s the start of an exciting and passionate relationship with Champagne.

Martin Williams, Winemaker and Consultant from Victoria, won the professional section in 2008. He states that, “Success in the Vin de Champagne Award gave me the dreamed-of opportunity to experience the many facets of Champagne, to a degree I wouldn’t have thought possible. It’s one thing to learn about the famous Champagne wine region by reading the countless words that have been written, but another altogether to experience it up close and in-depth.  The overall experience was unforgettable”.

Some of Australia’s most knowledgeable wine industry personnel winemakers, journalists, restaurateurs, commentators and educators can be listed as past winners of this prestigious award.

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