Chris Cormack’s Pegeric Wines of Macedon has won TWO major Trophies in the prestigious ‘judged with food’ class at the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong International Wine & Spirit Competition (HKIWSC) – ‘Best Wine in the World with Sweet & Sour Pork,’ 2007 Pegeric Pinot Noir and -‘Best Wine in the World with Steamed Garouper Fish.’ 2009 Pegeric Pinot Noir
Thousands of wines from 27 countries worldwide were blind tasted. The competition judged wines with 12 dishes from across Asia. Pegeric’s entries “stormed the Chinese category” according to event organizers,winning TWO of the 3 Trophies available. Pegeric Pinot Noir is dry grown on the single estate vineyard at Tylden, in Victoria’s Macedon Ranges region , 85km north of Melbourne.
The Cathay Pacific Hong Kong International Wines & Spirit Challenge has two characteristics that set it above other shows in the world of wine.
Firstly, it allows entry from any producer, regardless of size. This levels the playing field and sees a greater representation of smaller producers amongst the awards – not just the larger ones.
Secondly, judging takes place with food – giving the most authentic representation of the real world wine drinker’s experience at home or in a restaurant. About a dozen dishes are nominated each year, and a class of entry devoted to them. To top two classes is unusual, to say the least.
According to Chris, “Pegeric is one of the smallest wineries in Australia – in most years we make just 100-200 cases. Many Australian shows require a minimum production of 500 dozen – this bars us and many other small producers who are focused on high quality over large quantity. Wine Shows such as the Cathay Pacific International in Hong Kong give us a rare opportunity to benchmark ourselves against the best in the world – not just Macedon, Victoria or Australia. It’s great just to win a medal in international competition, but a Trophy for Best in the World is something else again. To win TWO Trophies in such a prestigious competition is unbelievably exciting – Winning against a globe of quality competitors is absolutely exhilarating!”
Chris’s previous trophies at HKIWSC have included Best Wine in the World with Braised Abalone (2011), Best Wine in the World with Peking Duck (2012), and again with Braised Abalone in 2014.
Pegeric’s results at the HKIWSC alone since 2010 have now netted 5 TROPHIES (and 3 runners-up for TROPHIES ), 8 gold medals, 19 silver and 24 bronze.
