Wine Awards Home Page

ENTRY PROCESS

2024 Results

Entries: In 2025, all wine entries will be made via ShowRunner. Entries will open from mid January and close Friday 30th May. Unfortunately, not late entries can be accepted after this time. 

Award Categories: Wines entered in the Cairns Show Wine Awards are judged in style related categories. These class groupings are primarily related to food; the categories give consumers food paring guidance. To view the Categories available and Entry Conditions, please view the Wine Schedule.

There are eleven Categories in total:

  • Category One – Sparkling Wine
  • Category Two – White Wine – Fragrant & Aromatic Wines
  • Category Three – White Wine – Light to Medium Bodied
  • Category Four – White Wine – Dry Full Bodied
  • Category Five – Rose & Light Red Wine
  • Category Six – Pinot Noir
  • Category Seven – Red Wine – Medium Bodied / Rounder Softer Tannins
  • Category Eight – Red Wine – Full Bodied / Firmer Tannins
  • Category Nine – Dessert Wines
  • Category Ten – Fortified Wines
  • Category Eleven – Wines of Provenance

JUDGING PROCESS

Scoring: 

  1. Wines shall be judged by each Panel according to international wine rules and regulations. 
  2. Each Judge will assign a score to every wine judged within each category. Following the assessment of each Panel of wines, the scores from each Judge and Associate will be gathered by the Panel Chair. Subsequently, the Panel Chair will determine an average score for each wine and award Gold, Silver, or Bronze medals as deemed suitable. 
  3. Before passing results to the Chief Steward, the Panel Chair will provide commentary on the quality of wines in the Category on their judging sheet. The Chief Steward will then transmit the results to the Wine Coordinator for entry and recording. 
  4. The Wine Coordinator will check the addition of results on the judging sheets, and accurately enter winning entries Awards. 
  5. The Wine Coordinator will input these Results into a database, and then transfer these Results to a Result Catalogue along with judging score and Category comments. 
  6. Judging sheets will be viewed by the Chief Wine and Pouring Room Stewards to ensure medal winning wines are pulled. 

 

Diploma (Medal) Awards

  • 97-99 – Top Gold: Exceptional wines of Top Gold and major trophy Standard in important Wine Shows. 
  • 95-96 – Gold: Outstanding wines of Gold Medal standard, usually with a great pedigree.
  • 94 – Silver: Wines on the cusp of Gold Medal status. 
  • 90-93 – Silver: Highly recommended wines of Silver Medal standard, demonstrating great quality, style, and character, and worthy of a place in any cellar. 
  • 89 – Bronze: Recommended wines on the cusp of Silver Medal standard. 
  • 86-88 – Bronze: Wines of Bronze Medal standard; well produced, flavoursome wines, usually not requiring cellaring.