The 2025 Liquid Luxury Amateur Fortified Wine Show has wrapped up its fourth instalment, and once again our incredible community of home barrel owners has proven that passion, patience, and persistence can lead to truly extraordinary wines.
This year saw 102 entries across all categories, a slight drop from last year, but every bit as impressive in quality. The standard continues to rise year on year, and so too does the competition. Our judges really had their work cut out for them, scoring with even greater precision to ensure only the very best were recognised. One judge even commented that some of this year’s top wines could easily hold their own at the world-renowned Australian Fortified Wine Show here in Rutherglen! High praise indeed!
Held on October 7–8, this year’s event celebrated the craftsmanship and care of those who’ve nurtured their barrels over the past 12 months. Freshness, a vital hallmark of great fortified wine, was a standout across the board. At Stanton & Killeen, we’re proud to support our Liquid Luxury community with free barrel analysis year-round, helping ensure no barrel goes stale and every blend reaches its full potential.
Judging & Scoring
Entries were assessed using the Australian Wine Show 100-point system, ensuring fairness and consistency across the board:
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95–100: Gold – Exceptional
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90–94: Silver – Outstanding
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85–89: Bronze – Commendable
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80–84: Solid – Good effort, minor imperfections
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75–79: Mediocre – Drinkable, lacking finesse
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50–74: Not recommended
With quality higher than ever, a remarkable number of entries achieved medal status. Category champions then advanced to compete for the coveted Best in Show title, a true celebration of creativity, craftsmanship, and community spirit.
🏆 Best in Show
David Gregory
Score: 98/100 | Category: Topaque | Class: Dark, Decadent & Aged
David’s Topaque wowed the judges with its vibrant lift and elegant balance. On the younger side for its class, it shone with fresh orange peel, espresso, and beautifully balanced sweetness. A wine clearly destined for greatness.
As this year’s Best in Show winner, David receives a 10 L barrel handcrafted from 50-year-old ex-fortified oak, originally sourced by Norman Killeen in the 1960s and ’70s from old bourbon and whisky barrels. After decades nurturing S&K fortifieds, these barrels are now enjoying a second life, much like the new generation of winemakers they inspire.
Category Winners
Category 1: Muscat
Overall Winner: Darren Read – 97/100 (Class 1) 🏆
Class 1 Winner: Darren Read – 97/100 Gold
Class 2 Winner: Evelyn & Kevin Ferris – 96/100 Gold
Class 3 Winner: Zane Martin – 96/100 Gold
Gold Medals:
Anthony Pepers · Jess Weston · Damien Barrett · Gary Henry · Peter Price · Michael Flegeltaub · Paul Holland · Peter Joyce · Phil Toland
Category 2: Topaque
Overall Winner & Best in Show: David Gregory – 98/100 (Class 3) 🏆
Class 1 Winner: Jess Weston – 96/100 Gold
Class 2 Winner: Darren Sargent – 96/100 Gold
Class 3 Winner: David Gregory – 98/100 Trophy
Gold Medals:
Darren Read
Category 3: Ruby / Tawny
Overall Winner: Zane Martin – 97/100 (Class 3) 🏆
Zane’s entry burst with dark fruit, baking spice, and a confident tannin grip. The palate was generous and long, layered with leather, tobacco. A bold, complex, beautifully crafted wine.
Class 1 Winner: Jess Weston – 96/100 Gold
Class 2 Winner: Peter Lowe – 96/100 Gold
Class 3 Winner: Zane Martin – 97/100 Gold
Gold Medals:
Category 4: Rebel Blend (Open Class)
Overall Winner: Gary Douglas – 95/100 Gold 🏆
Gary’s blend offered bright red fruits, subtle floral lift, and just the right hint of oak. Lively, balanced, and creative. A confident wine that truly lived up to the “Rebel” name.
Celebrating Craftsmanship
Every single entrant deserves huge credit for their time, energy, and dedication. Each year, you lift the bar higher, and we couldn’t be prouder to host an event that celebrates the heart and soul of home barrel making.
Now, a special note to those who received Silver medals this year, please don’t be dismayed. In any other year, your wine would have easily landed Gold. But with the incredible standard of entries in 2025, our judges had to separate the cream from the crop — only the freshest, most balanced, and most complete wines reached Gold this time around.
And if you recognise a few familiar names among the Gold and Trophy winners, you’re not wrong. Many of them are our long-time customers who visit once a year to blend their wines with our winemaker, fine-tune their barrels, and really get nerdy about the details. That’s dedication and it shows.
But that kind of help isn’t reserved for a select few, it’s something we offer to everyone. If you can’t make it down to Rutherglen but want to know how your wine’s tracking, get in touch. We can analyse your blend, chat through the results, and help you get it singing again. This is what we love doing, and it’s what we do best.
And if you’re not looking to go that deep, that’s fine too. A Silver medal in this year’s show is an incredible feat in itself, and a reflection of the effort, patience, and care that goes into every drop.
All Category, Class, and Gold Medal winners will receive a custom Liquid Luxury rosette, a little piece of glory to display proudly on your barrel, representing your skill, creativity, and craftsmanship.
As we raise a glass to this year’s outstanding results, we’re already looking ahead to our fifth anniversary show in 2026. Keep refining, experimenting, and above all, enjoying the process.
Full results and benchmarking data for 2025 can be found here [Benchmarking Spreadsheet & Results].
