Aaron Ridgeway
Canberra Times

THE CANBERRA district is the talk of the wine world after a local red picked up one of the country's most prestigious wine awards.

Collector Wines scooped the pool at the Sydney Royal Wine Show, picking up four trophies including the coveted gong for best red wine of show.

Collector Wines is run by former Kamberra chief winemaker Alex McKay.

Chardonnay continues to dominate the major wine shows, with the 2008 Eileen Hardy Chardonnay winning best wine of show.

The 2008 vintage is considered a cracker for chardonnay in many parts of the country, reflected in the judging with 14 of 24 gold medal-winning chardonnays coming from that year.

A premium Penfolds chardonnay from 2008 took top honours at the National Wine Show in Canberra in November.

Mr McKay first made wine under the Collector label in 2005. The winery produces a cheaper Marked Tree shiraz as well as the $46-a-bottle reserve.

''I feel a bit shocked I guess, it's good to have the endorsement of the boffins,'' Mr McKay said.

The 2010 show featured 2323 wines from 396 exhibitors. A total of 34 trophies and 932 medals were awarded.

Mr McKay sources the fruit for the Collector Reserve shiraz each year from a single vineyard in Murrumbateman. He said it was unusual for a Canberra district red wine to win multiple trophies at a top-level show.

''There's a minimum volume requirement to qualify for these shows, about 500 dozen. A lot of wineries in our area probably aren't making that much of their best red wine. You're up against a lot of the big companies and some of the best brands.''

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