Women pick wine they want

Women are often the decision-makers when it comes to buying wine and now an Australian wine show has created an award that reflects that - the Wine Women Want Trophy.

The Brisbane Fine Wine Festival’s new award follows the introduction of two competitions this year dedicated to women’s interest in wine. In March there was the first National Women’s Wine Competition in Santa Rosa, California, co-chaired by Margrit Biever Mondavi, the ‘first lady of Napa Valley’. This is the first wine competition to be judged entirely by women and is designed ‘to provide a snapshot of wines women enjoy’. The competition, which will be an annual event, also includes a Challenge for wines made by women.

The following month The Women and Wines of the World International Competition made its debut in Monaco. This also features an all-female judging panel and, like the Californian competition, aims to highlight the role of women in the wine industry at an international level as well as the power of women as wine consumers.

A Shiraz was the favourite Wine Women Want in the Brisbane competition. Local women picked the 2005 Chateau Tanunda ‘Terroirs of the Barossa’ Lyndoch, having blind-tasted the top 16 wines scored by the unisex judging panel.