Entries open to Australian Cider Awards

8 Jul 2019

Cider Australia today launched the 2019 Australian Cider Awards, which recognise and celebrate excellence in cider making, as the local cider industry ramps up its focus on quality and provenance. 

The ninth annual cider competition will give producers the opportunity to benchmark their products against the best local and imported ciders available for sale in Australia. 

Vice President of Cider Australia and Chief Steward of the Awards, Warwick Billings,  said the organisation is proud to announce that this year’s guest international judge in world-renowned UK cider producer Tom Oliver from Oliver’s Cider & Perry.

“Tom will bring a depth of expertise to the team helping us to improve and evolve our show, and we especially look forward to hearing his insights about the unique range of ciders made by our local producers with 100% Australian grown fruit”, said Mr Billings.

There are no changes to the Award classes in 2019 with twenty-eight classes to be judged covering standard cider and perry, specialty and intensified & distilled styles.

Winners will be announced at the cider industry’s annual gala dinner on Friday 8th November at The Craft & Co in Collingwood, VIC.

Enter the 2019 Australian Cider Awards online via myaca.rasv.com.au

Entries close on Friday 27 September 2019.

FULL DETAILS ON AWARD CLASSES ARE IN THE 2019 Style Guide AND RULES ARE ON THE CIDER AUSTRALIA WEBSITE.  

2019 Australian Cider Awards – Key dates

www.cideraustralia.org.au 

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About Cider Australia

Cider Australia is an independent, not-for-profit organisation funded by cider businesses and sponsors, established in 2012. It aims to build a sustainable cider category by undertaking activities that improve the quality of ciders produced and marketed in Australia. The organisation represents the interests of the cider industry to policy makers, calling for regulations and policies that support a diverse and evolving cider industry, and runs the national cider conference (AusCider) and the Australian Cider Awards.

Australian Cider Awards

The 9th annual Australian Cider Awards will be held in Spring 2019. It is the largest cider competition in Australia and is leading the standardisation and improvement of cider judging across Australia. The Awards received 260 entries from Australian and international producers in 2018.

Judging of the 2019 Awards will be held on 22-23 October 2019 at the William Angliss Institute in Melbourne. The panel comprises 7 full judges and 4 associates and brings expertise from across the alcoholic beverage industry including:

• Chair Sebastian Crowther MS (REAL Wines)
• Guest UK judge Tom Oliver
• Samara Fuss (Philter Brewing)
• Nathan Hyde (InterGO Partners)
• James Kendell (Small Acres Cyder)
• Loïc Le Calvez (Wine Truth)
• Jody Scott (NZ’s Zeffer Cider)

Tom Oliver – Biography

Tom Oliver leads a fabulously full life. He is a farmer and the sound engineer and tour manager for The Proclaimers, but it’s for the quality of the ciders and perries he makes in Ocle Pychard, Herefordshire and his collaborations with brewers and cidermakers, that he has gained a reputation around the world. He enjoys drinking cider only just slightly more than he enjoys talking about it but most of all it is the people around cider that stimulates and excites him.

Photograph of Tom Oliver courtesy of Bill Bradshaw

MEDIA ENQUIRIES

To interview Cider Australia spokespeople please contact Cider Australia executive officer Jane Anderson on 0434 559 759 or office@cideraustralia.org.au. Follow the Awards via twitter @cideraustralia and the #australianciderawards hashtag.