THE JUDGING PANEL The 2011 Renault Concours des Vins du Victoria judging panel will be led by renowned journalist Bernard Burtschy from Le Figaro and La Revue du Vin de France. Bernard Burtschy | Professor & Wine Writer - Le Figaro / La Revue du Vin de France
Since 1993 he has been with the Revue du Vin de France as a columnist and latterly as an associate editor. He is also responsible for the wine guide Le Classement (Editions Revue du Vin de France) where he is co-editor. From 2002 to 2004 he was a director of the GaultMillau Guide and head of its wine section, Le Vin. He is author or co-author of numerous wine guides : Le guide des sommeliers, Le Larousse des vins, 1998 (written in collaboration with Michel Dovaz), La route des vins de France (Ediguides) and L'année du vin (Calman-Lévy)... Bernard Burtschy is a member of the European Grand Jury; a professor and teacher at Les Grains Nobles, the Paris School of Wine Tasting; and has been President of our Committee of Experts since 1992. Bernard Burtschy has been recognised with numerous awards for his articles on wine. Jean-Michel Durivault | Taste expert and adviser in professional initiatives for the evaluation of food quality
In 1988, Jean-Michel and his colleagues created l’Institut de Dégustation and introduced educational tools for the development of taste in diverse contexts. Then, in January 2002, they set up CQFDgustation in Tours, France, allowing them to build upon their work in the areas of taste and tasting. Their goal is to make the act of tasting an effective tool in the domain of food and a source of enjoyment and learning in the fields of health, pedagogy and culture. His savoir faire has led him to work for large companies such as Champagne Veuve Clicquot (LVMH), and Jacques Vabre coffee (Kraft), as well as leading ‘Brand Managers’ Training’ for Cognac Martell (Pernod Ricard), and ‘Beer Tasting’ for Heineken events. He has also worked with and for farmers in many regions of France, such as the Muscadet winemakers in the development of their crus. Jean-Michel’s expertise in sensory awareness has also given him the opportunity to head the expert wine tasters panel for the ‘Chardonnay, Syrah and Muscats du Monde’ competition for Forum Oenologie. This obsession with taste has driven him to study and carry out workshops on the theme of ‘Bizarre Food’ developed for the European Institute of History and Culture of Food (IEHCA), and for which he has a particular passion: “There are foods that are bizarre to think about, and foods that are bizarre to eat. These workshops, which allow us to experience unlikely, extreme, odd, technological or sexual foods, force us to reassess our understanding of food.” Gilles Lapalus | Winemaker - Sutton Grange Winery
Food has also been a big part of Gilles interests, leading him to develop a comprehensive program of taste education in conjunction with the French government that was added to curriculum across France. Gilles winemaking philosophy is strongly influenced by his French roots, delivering texture and finesse rather than blockbuster fruit-driven wines. In 2001, Gilles moved to Australia permanently with his partner Jude and daughter Margot, taking up the position of winemaker at Sutton Grange Winery. Dominique Portet | Winemaker - Dominique Portet Winery
Dominique Portet is uniquely qualified in wine-making, with experience in three continents, and his formative years spent at Chateau Lafite-Rothschild in Pauillac, where his father was régisseur (vineyard and winery manager). He has made wine in various regions of France, including the Rhone Valley and Provence, as well as California, where he worked with his brother Bernard, who operates Clos du Val in the Napa Valley. He has been a flying wine-maker for nearly 30 years, since he flew to the US three years running to help with vintages at Clos du Val. He first visited Australia in 1972, then returned to France to finish his studies. Since 1976, he has lived in Australia. "I am at home here, I think my roots are here now," he says. He spent more than 20 years as managing director at Taltami, where he was responsible for the growth and development of the vineyards, the winery, and a market that extended to 30 countries. He also developed a vineyard in Tasmania at Clover Hill, a well-known property specialising in premium sparkling wine. He decided to develop the Dominique Portet label after spending six months in Provence with his family. When they returned to Australia, he looked around for winery sites and decided on the Yarra Valley. Dominique leased space at Yering Station prior to setting up his own cellar door facility on the Maroondah Highway Coldstream. His oldest son Benjamin is continuing in the family tradition, and is studying oenology at Adelaide University. Benjamin worked at Chateau Beau-Rivage in the Medoc during the 1999 harvest. Chateau Beau-Rivage is a small estate vineyard owned by Bordeaux barrelmaker Jean Jacques Nadalie, who has supplied Dominique Portet with oak barrels for more than 20 years. Loic Le Calvez | Winemaker - Taltarni
The experience was clearly profound, and he returned in 2002 to take up a full-time post as assistant winemaker. With a diverse portfolio of award winning wines under his belt by 2007 Loïc was appointed chief winemaker, and in 2008, chief operating officer. True to his Bordeaux training, Loïc is captivated by Cabernet, but equally so with the uniquely Australian Shiraz Cabernet blend. His red winemaking philosophy is to create wines that are approachable in their youth, and primed for their longevity. Making sparkling wine in a méthode traditionnelle style is Loïc’s other passion, and it is with Taltarni’s elegant and delicate Brut Taché and Brut that his French heritage is truly revealed. Christian Maier | Sommelier - RACV Club
Following his apprenticeship, from 1984 to 1988, gaining experience in wine service, he worked in restaurants in Arbois, Versailles, Haute-Savoie in the French Alps, and in other parts of France and Germany, including a one year stint at the Michelin *** rated Côte St-Jacques in Joigny, Burgundy. At the end of 1988, at the age of 22, he moved to London where his first big break came, being promoted from wine service to Assistant Sommelier at Fitzrovia’s Michelin rated Rue St Jacques restaurant, near Regent’s Park. Then in 1994, at age 28, another big break came when the French Accor Hotel Group appointed Christian to the position of Wine Consultant and Chief Sommelier at their 5 star Hotel Sofitel Melbourne, near Parliament House at the fashionable “Paris” end of East Collins Street. There, he reigned for almost twelve years at their award winning Le Restaurant, its multiple awards including the Tucker Seabrook Award for “Australia’s Best Hotel Wine List”. Such awards are won not only because of Christian’s meticulously balanced international and regional wine selections but also because of the list’s price points. Ludovic Deloche | Wine importer - La Halle aux Vins
Ludovic was lucky to find himself working with Brigitte Hafner and James Broadway at the famous Melbourne wine bar, Gertrude St Enoteca. Combining his knowledge of the wine market in Europe and Australia, Ludovic started Halle aux Vins in 2007 with the mission of introducing Australia to the lesser known appellations of France. Ludovic continues to be inspired by the energy and passion of the Australian food and wine industry.
THE JUDGING CRITERIA The judging panel will assess the entries from the separate classes over 2 days. Judges taste the wines blind and have no information about the entries, apart from the unidentified glasses placed in front of them. Each judge scores individually and then scores are compiled using the 20-point international system (colour and clarity 3, bouquet 7, palate 10). |
Bernard Burtschy holds a Doctorate in Statistics and is Resident Professor at the National Telecommunications School and at the Ecole Centrale. He is also, and above all, a great wine lover, taster and much-published wine writer. 
With a background in applied biology, Jean-Michel Durivault now develops palate education programs (originally created by Jacques Puisais, French and taste philosopher), while continuing to study behaviours, food environments and our understanding of taste.
Gilles Lapalus was always going to be a winemaker. Born in Cluny, Burgundy into a family that has been entrenched in the wine industry for three generations, wine was always going to dictate Gilles’ life. Gilles interest in wine grew beyond the soils of Burgundy, after he graduated in Oenology at Dijon University he undertook winemaking work in several French regions as well as in Tuscany and South America (Chile).
The Portet family holds possibly an unmatched record in the Australian wine Industry. Dominique is the ninth generation in his family to be committed to winemaking, yet he is the first to establish a winery and label bearing the family name. The winery is in the Yarra Valley. 
French-born Loïc Le Calvez extends Taltarni’s tradition of French winemakers providing an old-world layer to authentic Australian wines. Loïc’s love of wine was formed growing up around his father’s fine wine store in Britanny, followed by wine and law studies at University in Bordeaux. Before joining Taltarni he worked in a range of wine roles throughout France and the US including a harvest in 1998 at reputed Château d’Yquem. Loïc worked his first harvest in Taltarni in 2001, travelling from his native France to experience new-world winemaking in Australia and then Sonoma County in the US.
Christian Maier has devoted all his working life to acquiring wine knowledge, imparting wine knowledge, wine service and, in more recent years, wine buying, importing and distribution,
Growing up in Cornas in the heart of the Shiraz region of Rhône Valley, Ludovic moved to the UK in 2002 and spent five years working in the wine industry in London. In 2007 he moved to Australia with a view to exploring New World Wine. 