On with the Show

It's been almost 35 years since Hobart wine educator Phil Laing and former Meadowbank winemaker Greg O'Keefe put their heads together and staged the 1991 Tasmanian Regional Wine Show. A show for wines made exclusively from Tasmanian wine grapes. There was no budget for the event. No organising committee. Just a two-man band.

Laing and O'Keefe simply met weekly at a Derwent Valley pub over a couple of months and figured out what needed to be done.

Then lo and behold, their groundbreaking wine show became a reality. Judging took less than two hours. Renowned author/critic/winemaker James Halliday made short work of that as Chair of Judges.

There were 43 entries from 16 producers. One solitary wine of gold medal standard – 1990 Delamere Chardonnay.

Flushed with success, all three principals resolved to make the show an annual event. 

Time may have taken its toll – Laing sadly died in December 2022 and Halliday is now in retirement – but the event rolls on, like a well-oiled machine. The name has changed too but it continues to be one of Australia's most widely respected regional wine shows.

Entries for the 2026 Tasmanian Wine Show opened this week. 

Back in January of this year, 65 producers of Tasmanian wine offered judges 413 entries for their assessment. The Champion Wine of Show – as well as Best Pinot Noir – was the 2023 Ghost Rock Pinot Noir. The family-owned vineyard and winery in the State's North West also won Best Sauvignon Blanc.

The Show's most successful exhibitor was the Brown Family Wine Group, producers of Brown Brothers, Devils Corner, Tamar Ridge and Pirie wines.

It's a mandatory entry requirement that all wines presented to the judges must have been made from 100 percent Tasmanian grapes.

Producers have until Sunday 30 November to lodge their entries for 2026 before the event's organising committee begins its busy December schedule.

The show venue has alternated between Hobart and Launceston over the years. The first wine exhibits of the 2026 Tasmanian Wine Show will be poured at TasTAFE's Northern Campus in Paterson Street, Launceston, on Tuesday 13 January.

Two assessment panels will sip and spit their way through three days of judging before emptying their last glass on Thursday 15 January. An exhibitors' tasting will take place at the TasTAFE venue on the following day, from 10:00am-1:00pm.

The 2026 Tasmanian Wine Show awards will be presented at a gala event to be held that same day – Friday 16 January – at the Josef Chromy Wines Restaurant at Relbia.

Booking details – along with ticket prices – will be made available on the Tasmanian Wine Show website at a future date.

Refer to taswineshow.org for all enquiries or send an email to: tws@netspace.net.au

Chair of Judges at the 2026 event will be esteemed Western Australian winemaker Virginia Willcock. 

An oenology (winemaking) graduate of South Australia's prestigious Roseworthy Agricultural College, Willcock has been chief winemaker at Margaret River's Vasse Felix since October 2006.

Last November, Willcock was named 2024 Winemaker of the Year at the annual ASVO Awards for Excellence held in Adelaide. The Australian Society of Viticulture and Oenology is a non-political organisation which provides its members with knowledge, connection, and ongoing professional development in the Australian wine industry.

Other 'Winemaker of the Year' awards to her credit include: 2017 Winemaker of the Year (Australian Women in Wine Awards); 2013 Winemaker of the Year (The West Australian Good Wine Guide); 2012 Australian Winemaker of the Year (Gourmet Traveller WINE).

Willcock grew up in Perth, and during her formative teenage years spent countless hours working in her family's small vineyard on the outskirts of the city. Not only is she an outstanding winemaking practitioner, she has a down-to-earth grasp of what it means to grow grapes and make wine in a small close-knit community.

Willcock will be supported in her 2026 leadership role by fellow judges Dave Brookes (wine writer), Julian Grounds (Stonier Wines), Erin Larkin (wine writer), and Glenn Thompson (Wine Network Consulting).

Tasmanian winemakers Emily Elsworth (Pipers Brook Vineyard) and James Oliver (Moores Hill Estate) will participate as associate judges.

Last page update: 26 May 2026