By Tanya Steele
The Real Review has awarded Oakridge Winery as its number one winery in Australia and the winner of Winery of the Year for 2023.
Oakridge also took home the Champion Victorian Winery trophy at the 2022 Melbourne Royal Wine Awards.
Chief Winemaker David Bicknell jokingly said it has only taken 20 years to become an overnight success but he and the other staff are pleased by the result.
“The key to the whole thing is that the team here are very good at growing grapes,” he said.
The Real Review is in its sixth year and this is the second time in three years that a Yarra Valley winery has taken the top spot.
Oakridge is quite an established winery and has been present in the Yarra Valley region since 1978.
Mr Bicknell said quality winemaking is a slow and patient process.
“We’ve got to the point of maturity as a business where it’s all really sort of coming together,” he said.
Oakridge has done well in recent years with the Review but Mr Bickenll said they knew this year was a pretty good contender.
Wineries are dependent on the weather and the growing season, with a variety of factors influencing the final product.
“2021 was a really fair year for us in terms of whether we have reasonable crops and the conditions were just really ideal in many ways,” Mr Bicknell said.
“The thing is that some years are too hot and some years too wet and 2021 was just right,” he said.
Mr Bicknell said they have a few more very busy weeks ahead at Oakridge while tending to this year’s vintage.
“We’re putting celebrations on ice until we finish the season,” he said.
The winery staff are already looking forward to future products and Mr Bicknell said they are always striving to produce good wine.
“Our focus is now on the next year because we want to do better,” he said.
