Ray Jordan guide to wine

Wine writer puts his mark on WA’s best

The West Australian – Saturday, November 6, 2004

The enviable task of tasting more than 2000 top-shelf wines is what confronted Ray Jordan in compiling the latest edition of his annual guide to WA wines.

The 2004-05 edition of Ray Jordan’s Guide to Wine was launched this week at Burswood in front of more than 100 industry guests.

As the WA industry continues to grow, so does the guide – which has expanded to now include more than 1800 wines from 228 producers in its third year.

“It’s encouraging to see some of the newer guys emerging and there are some promising producers there,” said Jordan, The West Australian’s wine writer.

Jordan said he also faced a huge challenge in selecting the winners of his 2004 wine awards, which were announced at the launch and feature in the book.

The wine of the year went to the Moss Wood cabernet sauvignon 2001, which Jordan described as a “deceptive wine that has only just began its journey…a super wine”.

Other award winners included: Leeuwin Estate’s chardonnay 2001, which was recognised as white wine of the year, Alkoomi, which won best overall producer; Woodlands was best small producer; Woodside Valley Estate was named the rising star.

The guide sells for $27.95 and is available from The West Australian, as well as bookstores and newsagents.