Penfolds wins George Mackey Memorial Trophy

Published: 23 July, 2008

Penfolds has won the George Mackey Memorial Trophy for Australia's export wine of the year.

It is the second consecutive year the label has won the accolade and Penfolds' Senior Red Winemaker Steve Lienert hailed the success.

He said the 2004 Penfolds Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon - which was selected from more than 18,000 entries - was "a Cabernet Sauvignon flagship and a stalwart".

Inspectors for the award were gathered from the Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation (AWBC) - previous winners include Wirra Wirra, Tatachilla, Coldstream Hills, Cape Mentelle and Penley Estate.

Chief Executive of the AWBC Sam Tolley said one of the challenges the Australian wine industry faced was to establish its profile abroad.

"We can grow shipments with increased prices if we demonstrate the quality aspect of our wines. The George Mackey Trophy is one way we can contribute to communicating that message."

The 2004 Penfolds Bin 707 contains a relatively high percentage of fruit from the world's oldest continuously producing Cabernet vineyard from the 1880s - the Kalimna Block 42 vineyard.

Lienart said the trophy was hugely important for Penfolds adding "our winery exports two in every three bottles of wine we produce".

Printer friendly version