Clonakilla Claims Jeremy Oliver’s Wine of the Year
Best-selling wine author Jeremy Oliver has named Clonakilla’s 2009 Shiraz Viognier as his Wine of the Year for 2010. Oliver, recently returned from hosting a major wine dinner at Australia’s pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo, is Australia’s foremost wine presence in the Asian region. He has just launched the 2011 edition of his yearly guidebook, The Australian Wine Annual.
Clonakilla’s signature wine – Australia’s benchmark blend of shiraz and viognier – joins a list of winners that includes Cullen’s 1998 Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot 1998, Mount Mary Quintet 2000, Wolf Blass Platinum Label Shiraz 2001, Leeuwin Estate’s Art Series Chardonnay 2002, Henschke’s Hill of Grace 2002 and Penfolds Grange 2004.
According to Oliver, the 2009 Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier has more texture, structure and layers of depth than any previous vintage. The viognier, occasionally rather flirty and evident in young Clonakilla, is enveloped by the remainder of the wine, which simply builds in perfume and depth the more aeration it receives. The other nine finalists for this award were: Seppelt Drumborg Vineyard Riesling 2009, Voyager Estate Chardonnay 2008, Giaconda Estate Vineyard Shiraz 2008, Grosset Springvale Riesling 2009, Hardys Eileen Hardy Chardonnay 2008, Yarra Yering Dry Red No.2 2008, Leasingham Classic Clare Sparkling Shiraz 2004, Paradise IV Chardonnay 2009 and Giaconda Chardonnay 2008.
Furthermore, this year Oliver introduced Grosset’s Springvale Riesling and Woodlands Cabernet Sauvignon to the most exclusive list of all in Australian wine ¬- Jeremy Oliver’s Five Star Wines, which number a mere 21 in total out of the approximately 25,000 different wines made in Australia each year.
The Australian Wine Annual is a must-have for wine enthusiasts and the definitive guide to Australian wine for wine lovers the world over. Jeremy Oliver selects the very best at each price-point so for a winery to be one of the 300-plus featured in the 2011 edition is a significant achievement. In this new guide, he rates more than 14,000 wines, each of which he personally tasted himself.
The book features professional tasting notes of more than 1200 new releases, plus commentary on wine trends and issues.
The Australian Wine Annual is available from all good book stores, fine wine outlets and selected cellar doors. Its recommended retail price is $29.95.

The Australian Wine Annual
Jeremy Oliver’s best selling guide to Australian wine takes all the hard work out of selecting what to drink or cellar. It’s a fully independent expert catalogue of the very best Australian wines at each price point featuring more than 300 wineries and nearly 14,000 wines, each of which he has tasted himself!
The Australian Wine Annual is a must-have for all wine enthusiasts.
Amongst the hot tips in The Australian Wine Annual are Jeremy Oliver’s Wine of the Year and the nine other finalists, his Top 100, plus his sought-after listing of the best Australian wines for $20 and under.
Alphabetically arranged, it is a handy sized book that easily fits into a handbag, glove box or coat pocket. It features professional tasting notes of more than 1200 new releases, plus commentary on current wine trends and concepts and the issues facing Australian wine producers in a challenging global environment.
Non-technical and simple to follow, it presents a score out of 100 and a tasting note for the current release of each wine listed. Colour coded charts of drinking windows indicate quality cellaring potential of back vintages of each wine. The book also features a full colour high-resolution label of every wine covered, making it as easy as possible for people to find the wines they want to taste and enjoy.
Encyclopaedic, accessible and extremely easy to use, The Australian Wine Annual 2011 is the definitive guide to Australian wine for wine lovers the world over.

Jeremy Oliver
Jeremy Oliver is one of Australia’s foremost wine critics and educators and is this country’s most influential wine presence throughout the Asian region. The author of 22 books including The Australian Wine Annual and Enjoying Wine With Jeremy, the first wine book by a westerner in Chinese for the Chinese market, he contributes to publications throughout Australia, China, Russia, Japan, Singapore and Korea. Fully independent, he was named the inaugural Wine Writer of the Year in 2005 by the widely circulated Australian Wine Selector magazine.
Now in his twenty-sixth year as a professional wine author and commentator, Jeremy is Australia’s foremost wine presenter. He is a regular host of corporate and wine-related events around Australia and from New York to Shanghai.
A qualified winemaker, Jeremy became the world’s youngest published wine author in 1984 with the release of his first book, Thirst for Knowledge. He is also the author of Evans on Earth, a biography of the late Len Evans and has written for dozens of publications in many countries including the UK, the US, Russia, Korea, Singapore, Japan and China. He appears regularly on the Australian Business Channel and has made hundreds of other appearances on radio and television.
Jeremy also operates his own wine information website, jeremyoliver.com.

The Australian Wine Annual 2011 – Fact Sheet

Author: Jeremy Oliver
Publisher: Jeremy Oliver
Format: 352 page B Format four-colour paperback. Front cover folds back with a key to symbols used.
Binding: Section sewn, perfect bound.
Finish: Gloss varnish.
RRP: $29.95
First run: 35,000

• Jeremy Oliver was personally responsible for tasting and evaluating each of many thousands of wins needed to update this guide. Jeremy Oliver feels very strongly about this issue, since it presents a consistency of opinion throughout his scores and comments.
• The Australian Wine Annual provides the only genuine classification of Australia’s finest wine based on quality alone.
• The Australian Wine Annual provides the most detailed tasting notes in print.
• The Australian Wine Annual provides the most extensive commentary of back vintages of key wines, which are regularly re-tasted and re-evaluated.
• The Australian Wine Annual displays a full-colour high-resolution label of every wine covered to make it as easy as possible for people to find the wines they want to taste and enjoy.
• The Australian Wine Annual is fully independent and unbiased. Jeremy Oliver has no association with any wine producer.

For interviews or further information, 
please contact Melinda Cannington 
+61 (0) 3 9830 5077 or +61 (0) 434 991 009
or melinda@jeremyoliver.com