Last week, Australia’s largest winegrape region by annual tonnage was put to the test in the 53rd annual instalment of the Riverland Wine Show, the leading show dedicated to wines produced from the inland irrigated regions of Swan Hill, Murray Darling, Riverina, Rutherglen and the Riverland.
Coming out on top as this year’s Wine of Show was the Trimboli Family Wines’ $18 Black Duck Durif, which scored 96 points and also claimed two other trophy awards.
According to the judging panel, which was led by Sarah Pidgeon of Wynns Coonawarra, the durif bracket was “a great class to judge, showing the varieties innate connection with warm climate viticulture and winemaking, with the best examples showing a pitch perfect balance of ripe (but not over ripe) fruit, oak and freshness.”
Other key highlights from the trophy results include Ricca Terra as Most Successful Riverland Exhibitor, receiving three 95+ point gold medals, and De Bortoli Wines as Most Successful Exhibitor, a category that also includes wines from Swan Hill, Murray Darling, Riverina, and Rutherglen Inland regions, with seven gold medals.
Amelia Anspach, a Winemaker at Angove Family Winemakers, was crowned the Riverland Wine Industry Person of the Year.
A drone shot of Oxford Landing’s Riverland vineyard
Following Trimboli Family Wines’ Black Duck Durif, the only other entry to receive multiple trophies at this year’s awards was Mallee Estate’s 2025 Kãti Ãllo Assyrtiko, named Best Single Vineyard Riverland Wine and Best Alternative Wine.
Speaking with Drinks Trade about his approach to alternative varietals in 2024, Mallee Estate’s owner and winemaker Jim Markeas said: “A few years ago we went through the transition of top working and grafting over Cabernet grape vines to Greek, Italian, Spanish, and one Georgian variety, Saperavi … It gives us a lot more diversity for on-premise sales, because all these interesting wines that are coming out of the Riverland can be on-premise and in restaurants, because that’s where people like to try new things.”
Another notable result was Hill-Smith Family Estates’ Oxford Landing Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz 2024 receiving 95 points and being named Best Sustainable and Best Organic/Biodynamic Wine in Show.
“We are seeing sensational wines coming from the Riverland right now and it’s exciting to be recognised alongside the best in the region,” said winemaker Matthew Zadow.
“The 2024 vintage presented drier conditions, however, temperatures remained mild throughout the ripening season to produce wines of outstanding varietal character and drinkability.”
Proudly a commercial wine producing region, the Riverland is responsible for a large proportion of the wines that fly the flag for Australia on the global stage every single day.
The 2025 Riverland Wine Show comes at an important time for the region, which in vintage 2025 was responsible for 27.9 per cent by volume of Australia’s overall wine crush by volume and 12.5 per cent by value, with the recent Emerson report calling for changes to the currently voluntary Code of Conduct for Winegrape Purchases as the pressures being faced by growers in Australia’s warm inland regions continue to develop. Collectively, the Riverland, the Riverina, and the Murray Darling/Swan Hill wine regions produced 70 per cent of all wine grapes during the 2025 crush.
However, Riverland Wine’s General Manager Alex Cannon-Leyson also forewarns ongoing low demand and prices for the upcoming vintage 2026: “With the expectation that water prices and other input costs will also increase during the growing season ahead, the immediate future looks very challenging for many of the local growers and wine businesses,” Cannon-Leyson told the growers she represents.
This follows on from a series of extremely tough years for Australia’s bulk wine regions, the extent of which was highlighted in this Drinks Trade interview with Riverina Winegrape Growers CEO Jeremy Cass earlier this year. As Cass explained, the Riverina is now entering into its “fourth year of prices less than the cost of production” with 50 of its growers having chosen to exit the industry altogether as of February this year.
The full 13 trophy award winners from the 53rd annual Riverland Wine Show are listed below. Alternatively the full results booklet can be viewed here.
Most Successful Exhibitor: De Bortoli Wines Most Successful Riverland Exhibitor: Ricca TerraRiverland Wine Industry Person of the Year: Amelia Anspach – Angove Family WinemakersBest Wine in Show: Trimboli Family Wines 2024 Black Duck DurifBest Single Vineyard Riverland Wine: Mallee Estate 2025 Kãti Ãllo Assyrtiko ($37)Best Sustainable Wine in Show: Oxford Landing 2024 Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz ($12)Best Organic/Biodynamic Wine in Show: Mallee Estate 2025 Kãti Ãllo Assyrtiko ($37)Best Alternative Wine in Show: Trimboli Family Wines 2024 Black Duck Durif ($18)Chief Judge’s Choice: Berton Vineyards 2025 Metal Label Vermentino ($14)Best Fortified Wine: Pfeiffer Rare Rutherglen Muscat ($140)Best Brandy: St Agnes VSOP Brandy ($60)Best Shiraz: Nugan Estate 2024 Scruffy’s Shiraz ($20)Best Other Red / Blend: Trimboli Family Wines 2024 Black Duck Durif ($18)
Dining and Cooking