EMERGING NSW REGION WINS MELBOURNE CUP!
~ Hilltops win 2009 Jimmy Watson Trophy ~
2 November 2009
In yet another victory for NSW Wine’s emerging regions and small producers, the coveted 2009 Jimmy Watson Trophy
has been awarded to a wine made from Hilltops fruit, just outside Young, NSW.
The Eden Road 2008 Long Road Hilltops Shiraz took out the wine industry’s most illustrious prize in what could be a pivotal
event for the Hilltops wine region. While Eden Road is a winemaking venture based in South Australia’s Eden Valley, the fruit
for the 2008 Long Road Hilltops Shiraz was sourced from Moppity Vineyards in the Hilltops, and the wine was made by Nick
Spencer, who also makes the Moppity Vineyards wines.
According to Tiffany Nugan, Chair of the NSW Wine Strategy; “Winning the Jimmy Watson Trophy is not only a spectacular
victory for the Hilltops wine region – it’s a major victory for NSW Wine. It thrusts the quality, diversity and excellence of our local
wines into the national spotlight.”
The Jimmy Watson result echoes the recent 2009 NSW Wine Awards, in which emerging regions won 7 of the 12 Trophies,
with Hilltops producers taking two of these. The Hilltops region also had 4.5 wines (0.5 represents a blend containing that
region) in the 2009 Top 40 Wines. The NSW Wine Awards form an integral component of the NSW Wine strategy, spearheaded
in February 2008 to drive sales of NSW Wine in our home State. The latest Nielsen data reinforces the positive impact of the
NSW Wine Strategy. NSW Wine retail bottled wine sales within NSW have grown 12.8% or $7.3 million on the previous year to
reach a record $64.3 million outstripping the State’s growth of only 2.5% in the same period.
“Sales of NSW Wine within our home state have grown a further 12.8% on the last 12 months bringing an additional $7.3 million
retained income into the State on the previous year to reach a new total of $64.3 million,” said Ms Nugan. “NSW Wine’s growth
has outstripped the State’s growth, with NSW’s total bottled wine sales in the same period only growing by a meagre 2.5%. That
means the NSW Wine Strategy is working. As at December 2008 MAT sales in NSW were only $59 million. Now 8 months later
they are $64.3 million, having grown $7.3 million or 12.8% on the previous year.”
This Jimmy Watson win caps off an incredible year for Moppity Vineyards, a great family story in NSW Wine. Owners Jason and
Alecia Brown are quite rightly celebrating as it would appear people have already began to discover this new find in the
Australian wine industry with Campbell Mattinson declaring their 2007 Moppity Reserve Shiraz “a rising star of top-end
Australian wine” (The Big Red Wine Book 2009/10).
The Jimmy Watson Trophy is arguably the most eagerly sought wine award in Australia. It is awarded annually to the producer
of the best one-year-old dry red wine in the Royal Melbourne Wine Show. The Trophy is a memorial to the late Jimmy Watson –
the proprietor of the Wine Bar in Lygon Street, Carlton, Victoria that still bears his name.
Hilltops wines in the 2009 NSW Wine Awards ~ Top 40 Wines:
Chalkers Crossing 2006 Hilltops Shiraz (Hilltops) $30.00
Freeman Vineyards 2004 Rondinella Corvina (Hilltops) $30.00
Grove Estate 2007 ‘Sommita’ Nebbiolo (Hilltops) $30.00
Moppity Vineyards 2008 Shiraz (Hilltops) $19.95
Westend Estate 2008 ‘Richland’ Merlot (Riverina/Hilltops) $12.00
For further information, please contact Bly Carpenter at The Mod Comms Group on 02 8968 9377, 0407 775 105 or
bly@modcommsgroup.com.au or Tiffany Nugan, Chair of NSW Wine Strategy, on 0414 969110 or tnugan@nuganestate.com.au
NEWS 
