Advertorial for Royal Agricultural SocietyRenata GortanSeptember 11, 2026Wine can be a subjective experience, for consumers who don’t know where to start the easiest entry is an award-winning wine chosen by experts. That’s one of the key intentions behind the Sydney Royal Wine Show, one of the country’s most respected wine competitions. For 200 years, the event has celebrated Australia’s rich winemaking history and crowned the country’s best drops.The Sydney Royal Wine Show has captured the hearts and minds of wine-lovers for two centuries. Over three and a half days of judging, more than 1500 wines were tasted across 55 classes, including sparkling, red, white, rosé, fortified, no- and low-alcohol. 58 per cent, were awarded a medal and 6.8 per cent of entries achieved gold status.A Sydney Royal medal is the ultimate stamp of consumer trust because of the meticulous, independent testing standards. 30 judges were split into six panels, overseen by winemaker Mike De Iuliis, the chair of judges.Each panel consisted of a variety of experts, from winemakers to wine critics to sommeliers so that different points of view were discussed. Together, they worked as a team to score a wine before De Iuliis tasted it.“There is a rigorous process and procedure,” De Iuliis says.Restaurant reviews, news and the hottest openings served to your inbox.Sign up“We are given basic information, but otherwise it’s a blind tasting. We know the vintage and variety, so if you’re tasting a glass of ’24 chardonnay you know it should exhibit varietal characters, it should still be young and fresh, and you shouldn’t be seeing any age characteristics.“Once we’ve covered the basics, we’re looking for interesting varietals that stand out of the pack.”Wines are scored out of 100. Those under 84 don’t receive a medal, 85-89 is bronze, 90-94 nabs a silver and 95-100 and is the gold standard.Mike De Iuliis (left) is the chair of judges for the 2026 Sydney Royal Wine Show. “For me, anything that’s ho hum and just OK doesn’t get a medal. Bronze is something well made, but there are no interesting characteristics. Silver is something pretty cool but is missing something, such as not enough acid. Gold is for wines that are a great expression of style – they have the X factor,” De Iuliis says.“Out of about 20 wines, the panel will call back four for a gold medal. As a chair, I’ll look at them and say, ‘Maybe those three but that one doesn’t hit the mark.’“The wines aren’t judged in isolation, all judges need to come to a consensus.” Winners include a $95 single vineyard semillon from First Creek to a $10 riesling from Aldi.“Would we award a trophy to a $10 wine if we knew it was a $10 wine? That was a bit of a surprise,” De Iuliis says.“But when you look at it, the fruit for that riesling was grown in Watervale, SA which is known for riesling. I don’t know who makes that wine, but it would’ve been a serious riesling winemaker under contract for Aldi.“A medal is a strong third-party endorsement that exposes a wine to someone. They think they might not like riesling but will have a look at that Aldi wine because of the medal.”Another pleasant surprise for De Iuliis was the high level of white varietals, from a First Creek vermentino to an albarino from a small producer in Mudgee to chenin blancs from WA. It points to an evolution of the local winemaking culture, from the early colonial styles first planted to today’s diverse, globally recognised varietals.The quality of shiraz was also high. Of 115 entries, 16 vied for gold medal status.“We had such great robust discussions, people were really fighting for wines and they were diversely distinct styles, from cool climate Tasmanian wines to traditional McLaren Vale shiraz,” he says.De Iuliis is a self-confessed wine aficionado had a front row seat to the event and wasn’t immune to stocking his cellar with newly crowned champions.“The winning grenache is so smashable, so varietal, the fruit jumps out of the glass at you. As a judge, you sit there and talk about the wines, but you’re not always going to find out what it is and buy a case,” he says.“I will be putting in orders across a few different wines and that grenache will be one of them.” Wine lovers can taste that grenache and the other medal-winning wines at the Grape, Grain and Graze Festival at Sydney Showground on Saturday, September 19.Top category winnersTucker Seabrook Perpetual Trophy for Best Wine of Show and East RedWinner: 2024 Pooley Wines Syrah (Tas)Albert Chan Memorial Prize for Best White and Best ChardonnayWinner: 2024 Medhurst Estate Chardonnay (Yarra Valley, Vic)Len Evans Memorial Trophy for Best Single Vineyard and Best Mature WhiteWinner: 2017 First Creek Single Vineyard Oakey Creek Semillon (Hunter Valley, NSW – $95)Douglas Lamb Perpetual Trophy for Best RieslingWinner: 2026 Freya and Jules Riesling (Aldi Stores, Clare Valley, SA – $10)George Mackey Memorial Perpetual Trophy for Best GrenacheWinner: 2025 Willunga 100 Blind Spot Vineyard Blewitt Springs Grenache (McLaren Vale, SA)Dan Murphy’s Value Perennial Trophy for Best Value WineWinner: 2025 Whipbird McLaren Vale GSM (McLaren Vale, SA)Bert Bear Memorial Perpetual Trophy for Best Other White VarietalWinner: 2025 First Creek Limited Release Vermentino (Hunter Valley, NSW)Thorp Annual Trophy for Best Sparkling White or RoséWinner: 2020 Josef Chromy Brut Finesse (Tas)Leslie Kemeny Memorial Perpetual Trophy for Best RoséWinner: 2026 Jacob’s Creek Le Petit Rosé (Riverland, SA)Discover this year’s award-winning wines and more at rasnsw.com.au/wineFrom our partners