As far as magazine sponsored wine competitions go the Australian WineState magazine is a good barometer on the state of both Australian and New Zealand top performers.
They have just released their 2006 awards that gave a small Adelaide Hills winery both the top shiraz medal and the overall Australasian Wine of the Year. The Bird in Hand Shiraz was voted top Shiraz and also won the overall Australasian Wine of the Year award. Their Merlot was voted top Merlot in the competition.
The winning vintages, 2005, will be available in the new year, but the current releases at £11.75 a bottle are available from The Flying Corkscrew.
