Penfolds RWT named best export wine

A trial red has triumphed for winemaker Penfolds with a 2003 shiraz named Australia's best export wine of the year.

The Penfolds 2003 RWT Shiraz has edged out more than 16,000 competitors to win the George Mackey Memorial Trophy for 2005-06 awarded by the Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation (AWBC).

The corporation presents the trophy each year to the most outstanding export wine of any variety judged by an expert panel.

Penfolds senior winemaker Steve Lienert said RWT stood for red winemaking trials, a tag first used when the wine was developed in 1997.

Mr Lienert said the shiraz was unashamedly unlike its stablemate Grange and a third of the price, ranging from $120 to $150 a bottle.

Only Barossa grapes matured on French oak were used to create the wine that he described as elegant and fruity.

"It has a medium to full body with a lot of class," Mr Lienert said.

"The wine's fruit characters are more lifted and aromatic, not big and chocolatey like Grange, but with great texture and opulence."

The premium drop is exported to the United Kingdom, Europe, the United States, Canada, the Middle East and Asia.

It is the second year in a row a shiraz from the Barossa Valley has taken out the coveted award.

And the 2004 RWT release may challenge for the same title next year with Mr Lienert describing it as "another cracker".

AWBC chief executive Sam Tolley said the RWT was a deserved winner because it captured the essence of Australian red wine.

The George Mackey Memorial Trophy was first awarded in 1991 and is named after former AWBC chairman, the late George Mackey.