Best of ICCWS 2025: Trophy Winners (Part 2)
- Marketing at ICCWS
- May 26
- 4 min read
Updated: May 28
We’re continuing our celebration of the wines setting the benchmark for cool climate excellence across Australia.
Part 2 of our Trophy Winners series shines a light on the craftsmanship, character and regional expression behind the 2025 standout winners, each one a reflection of precision, patience and place.
Kyneton Ridge — Skipping Rabbit Pinot Noir 2024
Best Pinot Noir Wine in Show
Nestled among the ancient Pyalong granites of the Macedon Ranges, Kyneton Ridge continues to redefine cool climate elegance through sustainably focused viticulture and minimal-intervention winemaking.
Awarded Best Pinot Noir Wine in Show, the Skipping Rabbit Pinot Noir 2024 captures the hallmark characteristics of one of mainland Australia’s coldest winegrowing regions, slow ripening, layered flavour development and structural finesse.
The 2024 vintage delivered expressive fruit and exceptional balance, resulting in a Pinot Noir that is both full in character and unmistakably refined. For the Woods family, who have expanded and evolved the estate since taking ownership in 2019, the award is a meaningful acknowledgement of the care and precision that goes into every bottle.
Try it now: https://kynetonridge.com.au/
Foxeys Hangout — Pinot Noir 2024
Best Mornington Peninsula Wine
For more than 25 years, Foxeys Hangout has helped shape the identity of Mornington Peninsula wine. Founded by brothers Michael and Tony Lee, the family-run winery has become synonymous with expressive cool climate Pinot Noir, wines that reflect both place and patience.
Taking out Best Mornington Peninsula Wine, the Foxeys Hangout Pinot Noir 2024 is described by the team as “the essence of good Mornington Peninsula Pinot,” red fruited, savoury and deeply nuanced.
Leading is Head Winemaker Chris Strickland, whose approach centres on restraint and allowing vineyard character to shine.
As Chris explains: “With cool-climate wines often being less ‘loud’ and more nuanced than those from warmer climates, we have to take care in the winery to let the fruit speak.”
That philosophy is reflected throughout the wine. The Peninsula’s maritime climate, surrounded on three sides by water, moderates seasonal extremes and allows for slow, even ripening. Combined with the region’s diverse soils and microclimates, the result is a Pinot Noir with purity, complexity and depth.
For the Foxeys team, the award carries particular significance, not only as recognition from respected judges and peers, but as affirmation of the long-term pursuit of quality and regional expression.
As the winery notes, wine shows like the International Cool Climate Wine Show play an important role in “setting benchmarks, aiming higher and improving the breed,” while also helping communicate quality and provenance to wine lovers more broadly.
Long recognised for their commitment to sustainability, Foxeys has managed key vineyards biodynamically since 2007 and continues to evolve practices both in the vineyard and winery, proving that thoughtful farming and exceptional cool climate wine go hand in hand.
Learn more: https://www.foxeys-hangout.com.au/
Russell & Suitor — Son of a Bull RPG (Riesling, Pinot Gris & Gewürztraminer)
Best Alternate Variety White
From Tasmania’s Pipers River region comes one of the show’s most distinctive trophy winners, a blend that speaks to creativity, curiosity and a passion for alternative varieties.
Awarded Best Alternate Variety White, Son of a Bull’s RPG blend combines Riesling, Pinot Gris and Gewürztraminer into a wine driven by aromatic lift, texture and minerality.
For winemaker Alex Russell, the journey began years earlier with the discovery of a rogue Gewürztraminer vine while working in Mildura, a moment that sparked a long-standing fascination with the variety.
Today, alongside wife Lara, the family crafts premium cool climate wines in Tasmania, taking a hands-on, vineyard-to-bottle approach that reflects both sustainability and authenticity.
As the team explains:“Together we planted the vines, we pick the fruit, we make the wine, it’s a real in-house, family ‘nose-to-tail’ process. This award means everything as we did it all ourselves.”
That sense of connection extends beyond the winery. Sheep naturally manage vineyard growth, grape marc is repurposed across the property to feed livestock, and the vineyard operates under Sustainable Winegrowing Australia principles.
For a small family-run producer, recognition through the International Cool Climate Wine Show carries real significance, not only validating the quality of the wine, but helping showcase Tasmanian cool climate winemaking to a broader audience.
The result is a wine, and a story, that perfectly captures the evolving energy of cool climate wine.
Check it out: https://www.russellandsuitor.com.au/
Bream Creek Vineyard — Reserve Pinot Noir 2024
People’s Choice – Red
Some awards are decided by judges. Others are chosen by the people swirling, tasting and sharing the experience firsthand.
Awarded People’s Choice – Red, the Bream Creek Vineyard Reserve Pinot Noir 2024 captured the attention of attendees through its balance of intensity, structure and elegance.
As one of Tasmania’s pioneering cool climate producers, Bream Creek Vineyard has been producing award winning wine from its Marion Bay site since 1990. Long, cool ripening seasons and constant maritime influence from nearby Maria Island help create wines defined by perfume, spice and natural finesse.
Crafted from low-yielding mature vines and selected from the top tier of their Pinot Noir production, the Reserve Pinot Noir reflects a minimal-intervention philosophy where site expression remains front and centre.
For the Bream Creek team, receiving recognition directly from wine lovers made the award especially meaningful, a reflection not only of quality, but of connection.
Check them out: www.breamcreekvineyard.com.au
A Benchmark for Cool Climate Excellence
Across Australia and New Zealand, these wines reflect the defining characteristics of cool climate winemaking:
Precision and natural acidity
Slower ripening and flavour development
Clear expression of site and season
Balance, restraint and longevity
What the International Cool Climate Wine Show continues to champion is not just quality, but a shared philosophy.
Cool climate wines don’t shout. They resonate.
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