• Charles Sturt wins two international awards during the Austrian Wine Challenge in Vienna
• Charles Sturt won gold for its 2022 Shiraz in Class 24 – Shiraz (Syrah) and silver for its 2022 Chardonnay in Class 1 – Chardonnay up to 12.9 volume per cent alcohol
• Winners will be officially announced on Thursday 26 October at the Vienna Town Hall

Charles Sturt University’s wine is gaining international recognition after winning gold and silver at the Austrian Wine Challenge (AWC) Vienna.

Charles Sturt Winery won gold for its 2022 Shiraz in Class 24 – Shiraz (Syrah) and a silver for its 2022 Chardonnay in Class 1 – Chardonnay up to 12.9 volume per cent alcohol.

The AWC Vienna has run for 20 years and is the largest international wine challenge, with 1,514 producers from 42 countries competing with a total of 11,376 wines.

The Shiraz wine came from a vineyard on Ms Rebecca Gorman’s Yabtree West property near Mundarlo on the Murrumbidgee River. Ms Gorman is a keen farmer with an interest in regenerative agriculture and she raised the 2022 grapes to an excellent quality.

Charles Sturt Winemaker with the Gulbali Institute of Agriculture, Water and Environment in Wagga Wagga Mr Johnny Clark said Charles Sturt’s Winery and Cellar Door team were integral in producing the award-winning wine.

“The team got up one early morning in March 2022 and went out to the vineyard to pick the grapes, bringing them back to the Charles Sturt Wagga Winery facility,” he said.

“The wine was carefully stewarded through fermentation and then barrelled down in French and American oak for the winter.

“We blended the barrels just before Christmas and bottled in the New Year.

“The deep violet colour, spice and floral notes and black berry characters bring lots of southern Riverina charm to a gorgeous drop.”

Mr Clark said Charles Sturt has been present on the global wine scene for a while, but this recognition propels the University into being a leading wine school.

“Attractive online course work, student exchanges, our research and an entry in the Oxford Companion to Wine have all positioned us as a world-leading wine school,” he said.

“Additionally, not all our near peers in the wine education sector produce wine, so it’s a terrific string to our bow.

“A gold medal in Europe for our wine affirms our outward looking approach and substantiates us as a university that can not only teach, but can perform at the highest level.”

Winners of the AWC Vienna will be announced during an official ceremony at the Vienna Town Hall on Thursday 26 October.