General News
10 July, 2025
Raising a glass to Victoria’s best wines
A local winery has reached the top its class as a finalist in the annual Victorian Premier’s Trophy at the Victorian Wine Show.
The 2022 Miners Ridge Shiraz reached the finals of the prestigious Premier’s Trophy which was won by Beechworth based winery A. Rodda.
Premier Jacinta Allan also selected the 2023 Baxendale Chardonnay by A. Rodda Wines as the recipient of the Premier’s Choice Award – the first year the same wine has won both awards.
The Premier’s Trophy recognises the ‘best of the best’ in Victorian wine, with the champion selected from the winners of Victoria’s regional wine shows.
Armstrong based Miners Ridge took out top spot at the 2024 Ballarat Wine Show making it an automatic contender for the Premier’s Trophy.
Ms Allan said wine is an integral part of Victoria’s regional economy, providing jobs at wineries, vineyards, and cellar doors and contributes $9.5 billion to the Victorian economy.
“Victoria is home to some of the finest wine makers, producing world-class wines that showcase local craftsmanship, strengthen the economy, create jobs, and position the state as the Australian leader of premium, homegrown wine,” she said.
Miners Ridge owners Katrina and Andrew Toomey have been enjoying the accolades of their shiraz’s over the past year with medals, trophies and recognition coming from all angles.
They make two different Shiraz’s, both typical of the Grampians style and good examples of what to expect from a Grampians shiraz.
Their 2021 AT Shiraz and soon to be released 2022 AT Shiraz have both respectively received a score of 95 points from James Halliday Wine Companion, a rating given to outstanding wines of gold medal standard, usual with a great pedigree.
After winning three trophies at last years Ballarat Wine Show (Best Shiraz, Best Red Wine and Champion of the show) Miners Ridge was also awarded a gold medal at the National Wine Show.
While Miners Ridge missed out on the top award at this year’s Victorian Wine Show, the couple was told they “came in the top three wines.”
Andrew and Katrina have been growing grapes in their Armstrong site for 27 years and while they are scaling back their business, are continuing to produce some outstanding wines.