New wine stars shine at Darebin fest

LEONARDO da Vinci once said: “The discovery of a good wine is increasingly better for mankind than the discovery of a new star.”

But at Darebin’s Homemade Wine and Beer Festival at the Preston Town Hall last Sunday, it was the new stars who made the good wines.

West Preston resident Mike Williamson was among the best of them, taking out the hotly contested Best Wine category for his rose (there were 57 entries in the category).

“The grape accounts for about 20 per cent of the quality. If you’ve got a good grape all you’ve got to do is not make too many mistakes,” Mr Williamson said.

He sourced the grapes from a grower in Wandin North in the Yarra Ranges.

Mr Williamson said he honed his wine making skills doing a short course at Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE and then joining the Eltham Amateur Wine Makers Club.

Other competition winners were Luke Wilson in the Best Beer category, Stuart Adcock for Best Beer People’s Choice, Fernando Barbanera won the Encouragement Award for his wine while Frank Bonotto won the People’s Choice Award for Best Wine.