Judging Underway at Australian Cider Awards

30 Sep 2014

Innovation, experimentation and excellence under the microscope in Melbourne

Five people in Melbourne can lay claim to having the best job in the world this week.

They’re busy smelling and sipping almost 150 different ciders from across the country as well as New Zealand, South Africa and Europe, in the 2014 Australian Cider Awards.

The awards are being held in Melbourne for the first time, with judging underway at the William Angliss Institute in the CBD.

Cider Australia President Sam Reid said the awards have grown to record categories, reflecting the increasing popularity of cider products.

“This is the first time we have organised an awards that includes clear definition between `New World’ and `Traditional’ cider to reflect that there is an obvious difference between styles,” Mr Reid said.

In `New World’, the judges will be expecting ciders and perry in a modern, fruit-driven style, that may have less complexity, texture and structure than those in the `Traditional’ classes.

“The general consumer would see `New World’ as American-style cider that is clear, crisp, filtered and bubbly, while the `Traditional’ category is dominated by cloudy samples traditionally found throughout Europe,” Mr Reid explained.

New Zealand based expert Malcolm Reeves is bringing an international perspective to the judging panel, which also includes Gary Baldwin, Behn Payten, Ian Kingham and Wayne Hewett.

“We have today started the first of the 17 categories on offer and will finish the remainder tomorrow. I can honestly say I am extremely impressed with the calibre of cider on show so far,” Mr Reeves said.

“While the results won’t be officially released until the awards ceremony next week, I can predict that there will be quite a few gold medals being awarded.

Winners of the awards will be honoured at a dinner, to be held at the Kelvin Club on Friday October 10th, while cider celebrations will continue with the Australian Cider Festival at Ormond Hall at The Village over that weekend.
Media Note
Photos/overlay vision and interviews are available today and tomorrow. Please contact Sam Reid – 0434734797 – to arrange.