The winning Pinot Noir is one of eight Adelaide Hills wines to make the top 10. It was labelled “stunning” by the Hot 100 judges. Based in Basket Range, Charlotte Dalton Wines is the label of winemaker Charlotte Hardy who recently won Best in Show at the Adelaide Hills Wine Show with Charlotte Dalton’s 2017 Love Me, Love You Shiraz.

The Hot 100 judges were blown away by Charlotte Dalton’s Eliza Pinot Noir saying, “this ethereal wine drinks beautifully now and will develop into something even more special after time in the bottle” and that the “winemaker’s soft touch helps the wine glide seamlessly across the palate, like an unseen hand taking you to the promised land of flavour”.

Charlotte Dalton’s Pinot Noir was one of more than 1200 wines entered into this year’s Hot 100 Wines, which for the last 12 years has discovered South Australia’s most drinkable wines of the year. Kangarilla Road’s 2015 The Veil was judged the second-best wine of 2018/19 while Murdoch Hill’s 2018 Ridley Pinot x Three rounded out the top three. The top 10 is below.

Also announced on the night was TAFE SA’s New to the Game award, which was won by Sherrah Wines for their 2017 Shiraz while Stephen Roy won JamFactory’s Drink Dine Design Award with his Bell Dining Table.